The Times They Are A-Changin'
by Quill plus Parchment
Summary: After a violent mission, Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus have to deal with the consequences. The good, the bad and the surprising. Not compatible with season 2!
1. Close Call

**I got the idea for the story after episode 1x14 The Lost Generation, so I don't follow the storyline of Lucy's mother being Rittenhouse (although I will keep that in mind and it might influence my story a little), or Emma taking over the mothership.**

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 **The Times They Are A- Changin'**

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 **1\. Close Call**

Wyatt closed his eyes in exhaustion as he settled more comfortable into his seat. It had been another close call for them, especially for Lucy, but miraculously they all made it out of there in one piece. Feeling immensely relieved now that they were safely back in the lifeboat, Wyatt quietly listened as the other two were getting ready for the jump back home. He heard Rufus typing something into the control panel, and Lucy fastening her seatbelt. For a moment he contemplated to fasten it for her, just like he used to do, but then decided against it. He knew she could do it just fine on her own. And so he simply kept sitting there with closed eyes embracing the sounds around him. All those sounds were so familiar to him by now that they made him relax completely. His team was safe and they were about to go home.

"Are you asleep?" he heard Lucy ask him quietly, apparently trying not to wake him in case he was. A huge grin spread across his face as he was instantly reminded of their very first meeting all those months ago.

"No ma'am," he replied accordingly and opened his eyes to look at her. She smiled happily back at him, both of them knowing exactly what the other one was thinking about in this moment.

Seeing her smile like this, after everything they had to go through the last few days, was incredible. But sadly, as soon as the memories of those days inadvertently pushed into his awareness, his own smile disappeared.

It had been awful, Lucy being held at gunpoint by Flynn so that he and Rufus would cooperate, the insane look in Flynn's eyes when he announced his plan to get rid of several Rittenhouse members all at once, the scared faces of the women when their husbands, fathers and brothers were dragged out of the room, and the defiant attitude of the men as they realised that they were about to die.

Wyatt swallowed dryly and tried to suppress those unpleasant memories again, but it simply wouldn't work this time. On the contrary, now he also could hear Lucy's voice again as she begged Flynn to find another way to handle things. But of course Flynn didn't listen …

He sighed deeply and tried to concentrate on the Lucy right in front of him instead, the one that was safe in the lifeboat with him. She was still smiling, which was a relief. He needed to see her like that right now. But then he noticed that she also looked kind of sad despite the smile. Although he wished it could be different, he didn't blame her for that. He couldn't even imagine what it had been like for her to witness the execution of these men. All he knew was what it had been like for him. Being tightly bound back to back against Rufus, he had felt so utterly useless and impotent the entire time. This incapability of doing anything for his team had been the worst. And then, when Flynn had started to kill those supposed Rittenhouse members one by one, he had only wished that he could have prevented Lucy from seeing it.

He felt quite ashamed now that he didn't really care about the people that were shot right in front of him. But all he could think about back then was that Lucy could vanish at any moment, just because her four-times great-grandfather, or something like that, might be among these people. And he honestly didn't know what he would have done if he had indeed lost her then and there …

Wyatt didn't know exactly when it had happened, but at some point during all those missions together, she had become very important to him, the reason he still kept on fighting. Without her … He didn't even want to think about it.

And suddenly it hit him. He was finally ready. Ready to move on and let Jessica go. Although he was sure that a part of him would always love her and would wonder what could have been if she hadn't been murdered, or if he had been able to bring her back, he also knew that she wouldn't have wanted him to spend his life miserable and alone. And maybe, just maybe, Lucy was the one person that he could move on with. Maybe with her he could be truly happy again, and wouldn't feel lost and guilty all the time anymore.

At the least, he decided in this very moment, he wanted to give it a try. No, he _had to_ give it a try. What they were doing was dangerous and this last mission had made it clear to him once again that life was too short to live it with regrets. To mourn missed chances and mull over bygone possibilities.

Wyatt took a deep breath, suddenly feeling very nervous about these chances and possibilities that lay ahead of him, of them, right now, if only he was brave enough to pursue them.

Maybe he should ask her to have dinner with him tonight, Wyatt pondered. Just a casual meal between friends to see how it would feel to spend some time together without Rufus there, and without the all consuming presence of their work. Just the two of them, in a relaxed atmosphere. He didn't expect it to be romantic or anything, for that too much had happened to them during the last few days, but he really wanted to be with her right now, maybe even to comfort her if necessary, or to comfort himself, he wasn't quite sure about that yet.

xxx

Lucy couldn't believe that they were actually going back home again. A few times during this mission she had been sure they wouldn't make it. That this would be the end for them, that Flynn would kill them too like he killed those Rittenhouse members.

It had been hard to witness, but Lucy told herself that it didn't really matter when and how they died, because in her time, the present, they were all dead already anyway. But of course she knew it mattered. Not only for history's sake, but also for herself. Because every time they got into the lifeboat and went back, the past became the present for them. Those were real people they interacted with, not just some names and faces in history books, and you couldn't help getting involved. And those men back there died because of them, because they weren't able to stop Flynn.

But as horrible as it had been, she also knew it was going to be easier as soon as they were back in their present. Back in their own time everything that just happened would become kind of surreal. They could spent days in the past, but as soon as they were back in the present they would act as if nothing extraordinary had happened, as if they just came home from an uneventful day in the office. And their missions felt more like they watched a vivid movie, or had a very intense dream. And if she was really honest with herself this behaviour unsettled her more than the missions themselves did. Was she losing her compassion?

Sighing deeply, she reached for the straps of her seatbelt and began to fasten them. As she did that she couldn't help but look over to Wyatt. It wasn't like she actually needed his help, but sometimes she wished he would still fasten her seatbelt for her, like he used to do in the beginning of their time travels. It always made her feel more secure, and today she could really need that. But to Lucy's disappointment, Wyatt wasn't even watching her like he usually did when they got ready for the jump, no, he was sitting annoyingly relaxed in his seat with his eyes closed. How was he even able to do that?

At first Lucy thought about 'accidentally' kicking his shin. Of course not so hard that it would really hurt him, only hard enough that he would pay attention to her. But then she had a better idea.

"Are you asleep?" she asked him softly, grinning as she impatiently waited for his reply.

"No ma'am," he responded promptly and the way he looked at her, after he had finally opened his eyes, was better then any attempt of helping her with her seatbelt could have been. It set a thousand butterflies loose in her stomach and a warmth spread through her entire body.

For this brief moment, when they both shared the memory of their first meeting, Lucy felt the spark between them again. The spark that she had started to notice when he had kissed her in 1934. Maybe it was just her who felt it, but sometimes, like right now, she was almost sure that he could feel it too. But then, as soon as it had been there, the spark was gone again, replaced by this forlorn look that he always got when he was thinking about his wife.

Lucy swallowed hard, feeling a lump forming in her throat. What was she thinking? He would never let go of Jessica. Of course Lucy knew that Wyatt cared about her, and that he would do anything to protect her from harm, for which she was very grateful, but she also knew that he would do the same for Rufus. And he had said it quite clearly, and more than once, that Jessica was the only one for him. And she, Lucy Preston, a mere history teacher, could never compete with that. Maybe he could find his peace with someone else one day, maybe someone more exciting like Kate Drummond for example…

It hurt. More than she even wanted to admit to herself. She couldn't deny it any longer, she was in love with Wyatt Logan and all he could think of was his dead wife.

Lucy squared her shoulders and set up more straight, this had to end right here and now, if he wasn't able to let go of Jessica, she would have to let go of him.

x

"Crap!" Rufus exclaimed, effectively tearing both Lucy and Wyatt from their individual thoughts.

"What is it?" asked Lucy concerned, her eyes darted anxiously from Rufus to Wyatt and back again.

"Not sure yet, but something isn't working right."

"Don't tell me we are stranded again, Rufus," Lucy said alarmed. "Not again, not here!"

"What? Oh no, I just have to reconfigure the system," Rufus reassured her. "I think."

"You think?" Wyatt said exasperated. At times like this he really would love to strangle Rufus. Just a little bit.

"Well I … just give me a sec." Rufus pushed a few buttons and then everything went dark inside the lifeboat.

"Rufus!" Wyatt urged him forceful. This couldn't be happening, not after all they had to go through already.

"Got it!" Rufus announced a moment later, just as the lights turned back on again.

Both Lucy and Wyatt sighed in relief. "Don't scare me like this ever again, Rufus," Wyatt demanded and let his head fall back against his seat once more. He even closed his eyes again, but this time it wasn't because he felt relaxed and exhausted, but rather to compose himself after this shock.


	2. Back Home

**Thanks so much for the overwhelming reponse to this story! When I decided to post the first chapter I was in some kind of dilemma, although I truly wanted to keep working on the story, I wasn't really in the mood to do it. So I thought that putting it out there, might help. And it did :) Thanks to all of you!**

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 **2\. Back Home  
**

This must have been the longest jump in the history of time-travel, Wyatt thought when the whirling and trembling finally stopped and the lifeboat came to a standstill.

"Are we back?" he asked, looking concerned at Rufus' back.

"Yes," Rufus replied a little annoyed because of Wyatt's doubts. "I told you, it was nothing, just a little … hiccup, so to speak."

"Little hiccup," Wyatt repeated sarcastically, "nothing to worry about. Well, it didn't feel like nothing, Rufus. You are in charge of the lifeboat, it is your responsibility to make sure that everything works, before we make the jump."

"Which is exactly what I did, as you might recall," Rufus retorted offended. "We are back, aren't we?"

Wyatt only mirthlessly snorted at that.

"I can't believe we actually made it," Lucy interrupted them, unfastening her seatbelt. "And I'm not talking about the jump back," she clarified, glancing at Rufus, who was about to argue with her as well. "Seriously guys, I thought we were going to die there… it was … horrible."

Wyatt reached over and squeezed her hand comfortingly. His argument with Rufus not exactly forgotten, but suddenly not so important anymore.

"Yeah me too," Rufus admitted solemnly. "To be honest, for a time, I didn't think we would ever get back."

For a moment all three of them were silent as the memories of their mission caught up with them once more.

"Rufus I … sorry I lashed out on you," Wyatt started, now feeling sorry for ever doubting Rufus. His job was it to make sure that nothing happened to his team, and he had failed them this time. But that didn't give him the right to accuse Rufus of doing the same. After all, _**he**_ didn't fail them, _**he**_ brought them home in one piece. "It's just that …"

"Forget about it," Rufus dismissed the apology. He knew Wyatt was just trying to get to terms with his own guilt and the fears of what could have happened to them. And if he was able help him by becoming his temporarily punching bag, then so be it. He didn't mind shouldering some of the guilt, he just didn't like being accused of not doing his part. And he certainly wasn't going to take the all the blame without putting up a fight.

No more words were needed after that, all it took for them was to share a look to understand what the others were feeling and to realise that none of them was alone in this.

x

Lucy, who climbed out of the lifeboat first, immediately noticed that something was different from any other time they had returned from a mission.

"Strange, where is everyone?" she asked. Usually they were surrounded by dozens of people, fussing over them and asking them about their latest trip, but now the launch area was completely deserted.

"What is it?" Wyatt wanted to know as he weakly stumbled out of the lifeboat after her.

"I'm not sure, but it seems like we are alone."

"Rufus?" he asked alarmed, turning around to look at him, but without the accusing undertone that he had had just a couple of minutes ago.

"Ey, don't look at me!" Rufus said, raising his hand in a yielding manner. "The lifeboat is fine. We are exactly when and where we are supposed to be."

"Well, it does look the same," Lucy said slowly, turning around in a circle to take everything in. "Except of the obvious absence of the staff of course."

Rufus went over to the next computer to check the data. "Yep, like I said, everything is how it is supposed to be."

"Then where is everyone?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe they went home for the night?" Wyatt speculated, noticing the dimmed lights around them, and a few shut down computers.

Lucy frowned at him.

"I mean look at the time," Wyatt said, pointing to the clock on the wall opposite of them. "It is almost 11 pm. Have we ever come back this late?"

"No," Lucy had to admit, "but still, don't you think at least someone should be here to welcome us back?"

Wyatt helplessly shrugged at this.

"It's probably nothing," Rufus tried to reassure them, although he too was feeling a little uneasy about the whole situation. "We haven't had a proper clocking off time ever since Flynn stole the mothership, but there is some kind of night's rest even during our missions, especially when they are several days long," he explained. "I'm sure the night shift is here somewhere. Maybe they fell asleep and didn't hear the alarm go off when we were ready for the jump back home. I'll ask Jiya about this. I'm sure there is a good explanation for everything."

Lucy still didn't look convinced, and Wyatt wasn't entirely buying this assertion either, but Rufus had to get out of here. He didn't want to deal with new problems right now. All he wanted to do after this mission was putting as much physical space as possible between him and this place, and so he hastily continued before either of them could object. "Speaking of Jiya, I really have to go, I promised her to spend some time with her as soon as I'm back, and as it is already kind of late … I'll better hurry."

"Don't you want to change first?" Wyatt asked amused.

"Nah, no time for that, besides, I think I look cool," Rufus grinned sheepishly, already walking backwards towards the exit.

"I think you look dirty," Wyatt laughed. "And you kind of smell funny, pretty much like you have spent the last 4 days in the 19th century."

"Don't listen to him, Rufus. He is just jealous because he doesn't look cool in his outfit!" Lucy called after him although her words were rather meant for Wyatt than for Rufus.

Offended, Wyatt turned his attention to Lucy now. "How dare you? I'll have you know that I can get away with almost anything, starting with the earliest fashion of the stone age up to the latest of the 21st century."

"Oh really?" Lucy grinned, trying very hard not to think of Wyatt wrapped in furry rags with a wooden club raised above his shoulder.

"Well, I might draw the line at your dress though," he added as an afterthought, glancing her up and down.

Blushing a little under his gaze, Lucy countered, "I don't know, maybe you should give it a try next time. I certainly wouldn't mind wearing the pants for a change."

"We'll see," Wyatt smiled teasingly, but then he suddenly sobered up. This was his chance, he realised with a jolt. He was going to do it.

"Hey!" he approached her tentatively, "I'm aware it is late, but do want to go home right away?"

"Actually I do. I can't wait to get out of these filthy clothes, take a long hot shower and then finally be able to sleep in a real bed again," she said longingly, sounding exhausted. "Why are you asking?"

"No particular reason," Wyatt said lightly, "I just thought we could grab a bite to eat together before we call it a night, and … I don't know … take the time to wind down a little."

"Oh …" Lucy said flustered, "uhm, … not today, sorry. I'm really tired, so I think I better go home right away," she excused herself.

"Eh, yeah, of course, I just thought … never mind," Wyatt stumbled. Then added hopeful, "Perhaps another time?"

"Yeah, sure, why not. Then Rufus could come too," Lucy added hastily. "And maybe even Jiya."

"Yes, definitely," Wyatt agreed, trying to sound delighted by that idea, but had the feeling that he was failing miserable at it. "That sounds like a good plan."

"Great," Lucy said, already walking away from. "I'll see you then."

Wyatt nodded absentmindedly, but then he remembered something else. "Wait! Do you want me to give you a lift back home at least?" he called after her, but either Lucy didn't hear him, or she ignored him.

Crestfallen, Wyatt looked after her as she literally fled the building. That went well, he thought dejected. With the way she reacted you'd think he'd proposed to her out of the blue. But all he had done was asking her to join him for a late meal. Were his real intentions really that obvious? Did that mean she doesn't like him in the same way? Had he just imagined the tension between them?

xxx

Lucy hurried away from Wyatt as fast as she could, afraid that she might take him up on his offer after all, if she stayed any longer. And that, she was sure, would be a huge mistake. The last thing she should do in her current state of mind was spending more time with him than absolutely necessary. She had the feeling that it would be super awkward between them anyway, now that she had decided to get over her infatuation. She doubted that she would be able to look him in the eyes anymore, or have a normal conversation with him. And she certainly couldn't bear hearing him talk about Jessica tonight, or any time soon. First she had to get her emotions back under control.

She burst out of the door nearest to the parking lot, and then just stood there for a moment, disorientated. She couldn't see her car anywhere. But then she remembered that Wyatt had picked her up on his way to Mason Industries. Briefly she considered going back inside and ask him to drive her home after all, but then decided against it, as it would mean to spend at least half an hour in close proximity to him, and that was the exact thing that she was trying to avoid.

And so Lucy stubbornly left Mason Industries by foot, willing to walk home if she had to, but hoping that she would find a cab soon.

xxx

Wyatt was still staring after her long after she had disappeared. Then with a deep sigh he turned around and headed downstairs to get his stuff. Lucy and Rufus might be willing to run around in their 19th century clothes, but not him. He would take a quick shower, change, and then, finally go home. And maybe he would even run into someone who could explain to him what was going on here.

On his way down, he listened for any sound that might indicate, that he wasn't alone, but the basement seemed to be just as deserted as the launch area.

"What the…" he frowned when he reached his usual locker, the 9th in the row on the right side of the staircase, and found it empty. Although he was sure that he had put his things in there, like always, he checked the other lockers as well.

In the end he determined that only three lockers were occupied in total. Two of them only contained some filthy looking lab coats and a worn out jacket, which most certainly did not belong to him.

The third locker was closed off. Wyatt looked around for something he could use to pick the lock and eventually found a piece of wire on the floor. It wasn't perfect, but he was sure it would do the trick.

He set to work and promptly lost his grip. The wire slipped off the metal of the lock and run over his other hand, were it left a long and painful scratch.

"Damn it!" he cursed, covering the wound with his mouth to stop the bleeding. As soon as the pain had subsided, and the bleeding had stopped for the most part, he turned his attention back to the lock.

When it finally opened, Wyatt was showered with dirty rags that were stuffed inside, and now, that the door was open, fell out. Disgusted he freed himself from the rags and slammed the door shut.

What the heck was going on here? Where were his things? Did someone remove them for some reason? Did he even put them into the locker this time? And why would anyone lock up dirty rags?

Wyatt wasn't sure about anything anymore. All he wanted to do right now was to go home. He didn't even care any longer that he looked like a fool in these stupid clothes and smelled like a sewer.

Then it dawned on him, he not only didn't have his clothes anymore, but also his wallet and phone where gone. And so were all his keys.

Great, he thought, now he also had to break into his own car and hot-wire it. Maybe he really should start a new career as car thief. With all the practise he was getting ever since this time-travel thing had started, he should be more than qualified for the job.

Needless to say, his car was gone as well. He really should have expected that by now. Whatever was going on here was wrong on so many levels that it couldn't be explained with the late hour of their return anymore. Something must have happened during their last trip that has caused all of this.

 _This_ he was sure of, he just wasn't sure yet what _this_ was exactly. Maybe it truly was nothing, like Rufus wanted to believe, and it could easily be explained when they finally got the chance to speak to Connor Mason or Agent Christopher. But what if _this_ was something really bad, something they weren't able to fix again?

His first impulse was to call Rufus and Lucy, but then he remembered that his phone was gone. No idea what he should do next, Wyatt tried to get back inside. But of course the door was locked, and without his access-card, that he kept in his locker during their missions, he couldn't open it again. The wire that he used for the locker and that he still carried with him (just in case), was no use on this kind of lock either.

Wyatt groaned loudly, the night was getting better and better by the minute.

Perhaps everything would make more sense in the morning. At least the full staff of Mason Industries would be back at work then, and hopefully could help them figure out what was going on.

xxx

Lucy only had to walk two blocks until she came across a cab. She was almost home already, when she realised that she had forgotten to get her purse from her locker. Quite embarrassed she explained the situation to the cab driver, and was relieved, when he didn't mind waiting outside her house while she went in to get the money. And so now she was sprinting across the lawn toward the house.

Lucy could see light through the windows, which was fortunate as she had to ring the bell and didn't fancy waking her mother, just because she had been stupid enough to leave her purse behind.

It took a while until the door opened … and Lucy was greeted by a young woman that she had never seen before. And if this wasn't disconcerting enough already, the woman also had a little girl in her arms that Lucy didn't know either.

"Uhm … hi," she stammered, wondering if she accidentally went to the neighboring house instead. It was already dark after all, she was rather tired, and the houses looked all quite similar around here. She was just about to take a step back to look at the house number, when the woman started to speak.

"Lucy, finally!" she said, sounding relieved. "I thought you'd never come home."

"Yeah," Lucy replied confused, "sorry about that." Then she remembered the waiting cab driver. "I uhm, I need to pay for the cab."

"Oh, of course," the woman replied, moving aside to let Lucy in. "I think I saw your purse on the kitchen counter.

"O … okay," Lucy said irritated. Apparently she had left her purse here then, instead of taking it with her to Mason Industries. She still didn't know who that woman was, but at least this seemed to be the right house and she was still living here, which, she realised, wasn't always a given when you meddle with the past. Therefore she decided to deal with everything else later, and went to get her purse to finally pay the cap driver.

When she returned with the money, Lucy found the woman still standing in the open door, obviously waiting for her.

"I'll just …" Lucy said, pointing towards the cab outside, and squeezed past her.

"What are you wearing?" the woman called after her, sounding disgusted, and then when Lucy came back, she added, "You look like you spend the last few days in a ditch."

"Yah, I uhm … something like that," Lucy stumbled. "Ever heard of experimental history? It's the thing were you try to recreate the past to…" Lucy trailed off when she noticed that the woman wasn't really interested in her explanation. "Never mind," she said instead, "I guess you could say work got a little rough."

"Right," the woman replied, giving Lucy a strange look. "I'm sorry, but it is awfully late already and I really have to go now. Here!" she said and unceremoniously handed the little girl over to Lucy.

"Uh, okay," Lucy mumbled, warily readjusting her hold on the small child.

The woman grabbed her jacket from the rack behind her. "Would you tell Wyatt that I'm sorry that I had to cancel on him this morning?"

"Wyatt?" Lucy frowned, now she really wanted to know who that woman was, and how she knew Wyatt? But of course she didn't dare to ask, because that undoubtedly would have been rather awkward for both of them. "Sure ... I'll tell him that."

"Thanks!"

The woman was about to head for the door when she stopped again. "Oh, by the way, Lucy, I'm really sorry that she is still awake at this time. I tried, honestly, but every time I put her down she was calling for you."

"For me?" Lucy asked confused, looking at the child. The little girl mumbled something sleepily and rested her head on Lucy's shoulder.

The woman gave her another strange look. "Are you sure you are alright, Lucy?" she asked, now sounding truly concerned.

"Yah! I'm fine … I mean everything is just fine," Lucy assured her, trying to sound convincing.

The woman still gave her that look, but then she beamed at Lucy and pulled her into a brief hug. "I'll call you tomorrow, or the day after."

"Oh … okay!"

She kissed the little girl on the cheek. "Bye sweetie!" she said in a high-pitched voice and then turned around to head for the door once more.

"Wait!" Lucy called out. "You forgot your…," but the woman had already stormed out. "… daughter."

"Uhm," Lucy stared at the child in her arms, trying to comprehend what had just happened here. Maybe she had promised to babysit tonight? That would at least explain what she was doing here and why she had been so happy when she finally had turned up. And obviously her mother must have let her in.

She and the woman had to know each other quite well if she left her daughter with her just like that. So Lucy concluded that they must be friends. Maybe even best friends?

She liked that idea. She hadn't had a close female friend for a very long time. With trying to get tenure and taking care of her sick mother, there simply hadn't been much time to make friends. Not that she had minded much, after all, back then she still had had Amy. But having a best friend might be a nice alternative for a change.

Lucy looked back down at the child in her arms and smiled at the thought of being trusted with taking care of her for the night. Although she never had to deal with such a small child ever before, she wasn't too concerned, she was sure that her mother would be able to help, if necessary.

Speaking of which, where was her mother?

"Hello! Mom? Are you home?" Lucy shouted up the staircase, but, apart from her and the little girl, the house was either empty, or her mother was already fast asleep.

xxx

When Wyatt reached his apartment, it was already past midnight. If he had thought that he had been exhausted before in the lifeboat, then he was absolutely drained now. At first he had been determined to simply hot-wire a random car and "borrow" it for the trip home, but in the end his conscience won, and he decided to hitch a ride instead.

Now the only thing left to do was breaking into his apartment and then he finally would be home. Quite simple, right?

Wyatt looked sceptically at the wire that he had used on the locker at Mason Industries and then at his apartment door. He was fairly certain that this wasn't going to work and that he had to look for something more stable to pick that lock. But then he decided to try it anyway. He was much too tired to go on a search for burglary-tools, and maybe he had at least a tiny little bit of luck tonight.

As it turned out, picking the lock of his apartment was shockingly easy. Perhaps it was fortunate that he didn't own anything worth stealing, or he probably would have been robbed a few times already.

Wyatt pushed the door open and stopped in his tracks, suddenly wide awake again. "What the hell?" he exclaimed as he gaped at his surroundings, though technically they weren't **his** surroundings anymore. Someone had turned his apartment into a nightmare of fluffy pink while he was gone.

And as if this wasn't bad enough already, suddenly there was loud yapping coming from his kitchen and soon after four tiny dogs came running towards him and jumping up and down his legs while barking madly.

The dogs were followed by an old lady, dressed in a pink gown. For a moment they stared at each other, both too perplexed to react. But then the woman started to scream, which only made the dogs even crazier. One even snapped at him.

Wyatt fled his apartment as fast as he could, slamming the door into the dogs faces, and rushed back outside.


	3. Apart

**So,** **here is the next chapter. I hope you have just as much fun reading it as I had writing it :)**

* * *

 **3\. Apart**

Balancing the little girl on her hip, Lucy slowly walked into the living/kitchen area and looked around. She hadn't noticed this earlier when she hurried inside to get her purse, but now that she actually had the time to take it all in, it absolutely floored her. Everything looked different. Despite having the same groundplan, the complete interior of the house looked foreign to her, like it belonged to someone else. How was that possible?

Although she apparently was still living here, at least according to that young woman's behaviour, Lucy couldn't help but feel like an intruder.

She set the child down on the carpet in front of the sofa, where she had spotted some toys lying around. For a moment she debated if it was safe to leave her there on her own while she went to explore the rest of the house, but then she noticed that the little girl was already busily immersed in her toys, and so Lucy decided it was fine, as long as she was quick.

The upper floor looked different as well, but as the positions of the rooms couldn't possibly have changed, Lucy figured that she was still staying in her former bedroom at the end of the floor, and her mother in the master bedroom.

She checked the later first, hoping to find her mother in there, sleeping. But one gaze inside told her that it was not only empty, but also that this plainly couldn't be her mother's room any longer.

To her own astonishment, Lucy wasn't even surprised by the realisation that it most likely meant that her mother wasn't living here at all. In fact, deep down, she had already known this might be the case when she first noticed the changes around the house. The entire interior decoration wasn't her mother's style. It was as simple as that.

But what did this mean exactly? This was her mother's house after all, so if she, Lucy, was still living here and her mother wasn't, then where was she?

Lucy had to swallow hard when she came to the only plausible explanation. It probably meant that her mother was already dead in this timeline.

At once Lucy's desire to explore the house further was gone. With a sense of foreboding she looked over to the room at the end of the floor, the one that belonged to her as long as she could remember. The door stood half open and she had this nauseating feeling that she wouldn't like what she might find in there.

And she was right. Her bedroom had undergone a radical change as well. The walls were covered with colourful wallpaper, her bed was replaced with a latticed bedstead, and where once had been her desk, there was now a changing table.

Obviously this room belonged to a toddler now, assumingly the little girl downstairs. Lucy had to clutch the wall beside her for support as the meaning of all of this sank in completely.

xxx

He was royally screwed now. He had no car, no apartment, no money, no phone, and absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do next. It was in the middle of the night, and he still wore an outfit from another century.

And if all that wasn't bad enough already, Wyatt was also worried sick about the rest of his team. If things had changed for him, then the chances were pretty high that they had changed for them as well. Especially for Lucy, who was, thanks to her father, so tightly entangled in all this Rittenhouse crap.

He should have followed her. They had known something was wrong right away. Why the hell didn't he follow her and made sure that she was okay?

Wyatt had no idea where Rufus lived, but he figured that he could always get another ride and go to Lucy. Unfortunately that would take like forever as she practically lived on the other side of the city, and he had to know that she was okay as soon as possible. Preferably right away.

Feeling desperate, he let his gaze wander around for a moment, trying to decide what to do. Then he suddenly had an idea, and it was much better and faster than tramping through the night. Or at least he hoped it was.

Wyatt hurriedly crossed the street and went into a diner. As it wasn't far from his place he happened to be a regular customer there and trusted that they would let him use their phone.

"Hey Jimmy, do you mind if I use your phone? I promise I'll be quick," he asked immediately as he entered.

"Do I know you?" the man behind the counter asked him suspicious.

Wyatt looked at him incredulous. He wouldn't go as far as calling them friends, but they knew each other well enough to be more than acquaintances. He was coming here at least once or twice a month, sometimes even more often. Granted, most of the times, he only picked up some food before heading home, but on occasion, he sat down and had a chat with Jimmy.

"Wait a minute, Wyatt, right? I haven't seen you for ages. How are you doing?" the man called out, recognizing him at last.

"Uh, fine," Wyatt said automatically. What else was he supposed to say? That he just returned from the 19th century and discovered that his world had blown apart?

"How is the married life?" Jimmy went on conversationally.

Wyatt stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe it, why did he have to be reminded of Jess at a time like this?

"Jessica is dead," he informed him curtly, gritting his teeth.

"Oh! I'm so sorry to hear that," Jimmy said abashed, looking away.

"Yeah, thanks," Wyatt said strained. He hated it when people were telling him how sorry they were for him. He knew they only meant well, and that it was custom to do so, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. It only reminded him with full force that it had been his fault that he lost his wife in the first place.

"So, um … I believe you asked to use my phone?" Jimmy spoke up again, pulling him away from his gloomy thoughts and brought him back to his present problems, which weren't that much better, but at least no one had died yet. Hopefully. And he would make sure that this wasn't going to happen either.

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"It's in the back. But make it quick, I was about to close up when you burst in."

"Thanks," Wyatt mumbled and hurried to the backroom of the diner. He was certain that there was no chance that he would be able to recall Rufus's number, but Lucy's might be doable. He certainly knew the first and the last digits, only the middle three were a little fuzzy. But there was an eight in there somewhere.

'Think Wyatt!' he urged himself when he started to dial. But of course he got it wrong. It probably would have been too much to ask anyway to find the correct numbers at once. So he tried another combination instead.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing you at this time, ma'am. I must have misdialed," Wyatt apologised for the umpteenth time. This wasn't going to work. He had been so sure that he would get it right number eventually, but by now he was out of options. He had tried every possible combination of the three middle numbers, which most likely meant that he was wrong about the first and the last ones, and if this truly was the case, then his chances to get Lucy's number were likely zero.

"Are you done yet?" Jimmy inquired impatient. "It is late, I want to close up."

"Just a minute, please?" Wyatt begged, feeling guilty that he prevented him from turning in for the night. "Do you have a telephone book?"

"A telephone book? What century are you from exactly?" Jimmy asked, looking him up and down, reminding Wyatt that he was still wearing that stupid outfit. "You can use the computer. There should find an online phone book."

"Right," Wyatt said, blushing slightly. "Thanks."

"You **do** know how to use a computer, don't you?" Jimmy couldn't resist asking with a chuckle.

xxx

Lucy sprinted down the staircase as fast as she could, and began feverishly to search for her phone, hoping that she didn't take it to Mason Industries with her today.

Miraculously, she did find it at last on the kitchen counter, hidden beneath a stack of papers. In a state between anticipation and panic she scrolled through her contacts until Wyatt's name turned up. Relieved, Lucy released the breath she didn't even noticed she had been holding. For a moment she had been awfully afraid that his name wouldn't be there, and that she wouldn't be able to call him.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up!" Lucy pleaded in desperation, but after a few minutes the phone went straight to Wyatt's voice mail. And as soothing as it was to hear his voice, as despairing was it that it just was a record, requesting to leave a message.

"Wyatt? Where are you? I need you! So much has changed. Please call me back as soon as you get this," Lucy croaked out hoarsely, on the verge of breaking into tears. Then she hung up and waited.

"Mommy, look!" The little girl unexpectedly called out, showing her a picture book.

Dismayed, Lucy looked over to her. So it was true then. This was her daughter. Lucy felt another overwhelming twinge of panic. What was she supposed to do now? Should she simply ignore the girl, or go over to her?

She took a moment to compose herself and hastily brushed the tears away that were threatening to run down her cheeks. Then she grabbed a tissue to also clear her nose as it was a little stuffy due to the incoming tears.

"I … I'll be there in a minute," she finally told the little girl in a shaky voice, not sure if the child could even understand her. She bit her lip and nervously checked her phone. Wyatt still hadn't called her back, or sent a message.

Suddenly a loud ringing yanked her away from her thoughts. In fact it startled her so much that she almost dropped the phone. Trembling with anticipation, she fumbled with it until she managed to push the right button to accept the call. "Hello!" she shouted into the speaker.

But all she could hear was the free line signal. Confused, Lucy shut the phone off again and looked at it irritated. Had she just imagined the ringing?

Just then it rang again, this time longer and kind of more insisting. It wasn't her phone though, Lucy realised, but the door.

"Wyatt?" Lucy called out when she hurried to the door and tore it open, only to reveal a worried looking Rufus.

"Uhm, no, it's Rufus," he said. "Sorry."

"Rufus!" Lucy exclaimed just as relieved and threw her arms around his neck to clutch him in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad to see you."

"What happened, Lucy?" Rufus mumbled into her hair, concerned.

"My mom is gone and I have a daughter," she blurted out, not willing to let go of Rufus yet, He was the only thing that made sense to her right now.

For a moment there was silence between them, but then Rufus pushed her away, holding her at arm-length, so that he was able to look at her. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. This is even worse than I feared it might be."

He paused shortly before he continued with his piece of unsettling news. "Jiya doesn't live in her apartment anymore, and I have no idea where I can find her. Whatever we have done this time has apparently changed our present completely."

"I've tried to call Wyatt," Lucy said. "But he wouldn't answer his phone."

"I've tried to reach him too," Rufus told her, sending a jolt of anxiety through Lucy. "But all your names have disappeared from my phone. I swear if I hadn't seen you guys just moments before, I would have thought that the two of you have disappeared as well. It's almost like we all never met."

"Strange," Lucy said, pondering this over. "Wyatt is still in **my** phone." But now that he 'd mentioned it, she couldn't recall seeing Rufus' name. Then again, she hadn't even tried to contact him. All she had been able to think about was getting a hold of Wyatt.

Feeling quite ashamed now because of her lack of concern for Rufus, she quickly went on, "Besides, there was this woman here when I came home, and she asked me to tell Wyatt something. So I guess it must mean that we still know each other, doesn't it?"

"What if something has happened to him, Rufus?" Lucy added after a while. "Maybe something has changed for him as well and he is in serious trouble."

"Or he simply turned his phone off and is fast asleep by now," Rufus tried to reassure the both of them. "You know Wyatt, if anything would have been wrong, the first thing he would have done is make sure that we are okay."

That was true of course, Lucy realised, and that knowledge comforted her a little bit. Wyatt would never intentionally ignore her calls. Unless he was in trouble of course and couldn't … no, she wouldn't go there. Rufus was right, Wyatt was probably just asleep.

"Can we please go somewhere else?" Lucy asked suddenly. "I don't feel comfortable here. It's too different. I feel like an intruder."

"I guess so," Rufus nodded. "Do you know where Wyatt lives? We could go to him. Make sure he is fine."

Lucy shook her head no. "I roughly know the area, but I've never been at his place."

"Me neither, I'm surprised that I still could remember where you live, to be honest," Rufus admitted.

Lucy nodded absentmindedly. They spent so much time together during their missions that they trusted each other completely, but apart from a casual drink once in a while, sadly neither of them had ever tried to deepen their friendship between missions.

"Wyatt knows where **you** live though," Rufus reminded her. "So this will most likely be the place he is going to check out first if something is wrong."

Rufus had a point there, but the mere thought of staying here unnerved Lucy immensely. "I guess, but … can't we just leave him a note or something? I really don't want to stay here any longer than absolutely necessary."

"Okay," Rufus gave in. "But if Wyatt is going to give us a lecture about leaving the base camp or something, then it is on you."

Lucy gave him a small smile. "To be honest, I can't wait to hear it. At least then he would be back with us and we'd know that he is fine."

"Well, let's go then…" Rufus reluctantly agreed.

"Yah, I just … I probably should get some clothes to change into," Lucy said, looking down her messy dress. "I'll be back in a minute." And so she sprinted up the stairs to get said clothes and some other necessaries from the bathroom.

Assuming that she was now staying in the master bedroom, she went there to look for clothes. Hastily, she took a pair of jeans and a shirt, that seemed like it might belong to her, from the wardrobe.

When she reached into a drawer to also get fresh underwear, she suddenly held some boxer shorts in her hand. Startled, Lucy let them drop to the floor as if they were poisonous.

Of course she had suspected that there must be a father to the child somewhere, and thanks to her previous encounter with unwanted time changes, she wasn't even surprised that he was living here with her. In fact, this was the very reason why she didn't want to linger around for much longer.

Lucy was about to go back down when she remembered the little girl again. She stubbornly refused to think of her as her daughter, although everything pointed in that direction. But whoever she was, Lucy couldn't just leave her here all alone, could she? Who knew when, or if, the father would get home to take care of her.

"Damn it," she muttered and turned around to get some things for her as well. Without really paying attention what she was packing, Lucy randomly grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and crammed them into the diaper bag, that she found next to the changing table, hoping that everything else she might need was already in it.

"I'm ready, let's go" she called out for Rufus when she finally ran back down the staircase.

Rufus wasn't waiting in front of the door though, as Lucy had expected, but had walked into the living/kitchen area, and was now standing in the middle of the room, facing the place where she had last seen the child.

He turned around when he heard her approaching. "So this is …"

"Yah!" Lucy said tersely, not in the mood to talk about this particular change yet. Probably sensing this, Rufus didn't ask any further questions, but simply nodded.

The girl had passed out on the floor, right between building blocks, picture books and stuffed animals. Which was fortunate as Lucy could just pick her up without truly having to think about her much, or even to interact with her. She would deal with all of this later, right now she just wanted to get away from here.

They left a note for Wyatt at the door, and drove off with separate cars. Lucy didn't even bother about the fact that her car wasn't the same as it used to be.

xxx

Rufus had offered that they could go to his place, but in the end they had decided it would be better to stay in a hotel instead. After all, they didn't know exactly what they were dealing with yet, and they didn't want to drag his family into this if they could avoid it.

Lucy just left the bathroom, finally clean and in comfortable clothes again, when Rufus' phone rang, showing an unknown number. He exchanged a worried look with her, then accepted the call.

"Hello? This is Rufus Carlin," he said cautiously.

"Rufus, thank goodness, I thought I'll never find you. Are you all right? Have you heard from Lucy?"

"Wyatt? Lucy it is Wyatt," Rufus announced happily. But before he could say anything else, Lucy snapped the phone out of his hand. "Wyatt? Rufus and I have been worried sick about you. Where are you? What happened to you? Why ..?"

"So I guess things have changed for the two of you as well?" Wyatt interrupted her, not even bothering to answer all her questions.

"Yes, I tried to reach you, but you wouldn't pick up your phone. Jiya is gone and there was this totally strange woman in my house, and there is that girl, and…" she said all of this very fast.

"Lucy, calm down," Wyatt stopped her tirade. "First of all, are you okay?"

Lucy took a deep breath before she replied, "Yes, Rufus and I are fine."

"Good! Listen, I'm kind of stuck here, my car is gone and I …"

"What do you mean your car is gone? What happened to you?" Lucy asked again.

Rufus wrenched the phone out of her hands. "Where are you Wyatt? I'll come and pick you up."

xxx

It didn't take very long for Rufus to get Wyatt as he and Lucy had decided to stay at a hotel in Wyatt's area of the city, just in case he wouldn't go to Lucy after all.

They clapped each other on the back in appreciation and then headed back immediately.

First they didn't talk at all, but then Wyatt had to ask about Jiya. He wasn't completely sure if he had heard Lucy correctly when she bombarded him with words earlier. Partly because he had been too happy to hear her voice to actually pay attention, and partly because his sleep deprived mind simply had refused to take it all in at once.

"Is it true about Jiya?" he inquired tentatively. "Is she really gone?"

Rufus gripped the steering wheel a little harder and set his jaw before he answered. "I don't know. All I know is that she isn't living in her apartment anymore and that she has disappeared from my contact list on my phone," he said, then added. "As have you guys by the way."

"I'm so sorry Rufus," Wyatt replied automatically, using the same response he hated so much. "But you know that that doesn't necessarily indicate she is gone for good, right? Not like Lucy's sister, I mean."

Rufus didn't answer, but only pressed his lips tightly together.

After that, they didn't talk much. Wyatt simply was too exhausted and Rufus didn't know what else he should say.

xxx

Wyatt wasn't even completely through the door yet when Lucy already held him in such a tight embrace that he had trouble breathing. Not that he minded, though, he was much too happy to have her back with him, safe and sound, that everything else didn't matter. And in his opinion air was overrated anyway.

Eventually she let go of him and he instantly missed her closeness. "Sorry," she mumbled abashed, turning away from him. "I didn't mean to strangle you."

"No problem," he smiled. "I'm glad to see you too."

Then his smile vanished from his face again. "But seriously, we never should have separated in the first place. I can't believe I've been so stupid, everything was literally screaming at us that something was wrong."

"It doesn't matter," Lucy tried to appease him. "We are back together. That is what is important now."

"I don't even know where to begin, all my things are gone. And when I say all, then I truly mean absolutely everything, including the roof over my head." Wyatt told them, rubbing his forehead while walking up and down in the room. Then he had to chuckle. "Not even my clothes actually belong to me."

"How on earth were you able to find us?" Rufus asked impressed.

"It's a long story, Rufus, but, much like you, I didn't have your contact information anymore due to the lack of a phone, anyway, in the end I called your mom from a nearby diner and she gave me your number," he summarized quickly. There was time to elaborate their stories later. He first needed a shower and perhaps a couple hours of sleep.

He was on his way to the bathroom when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye, and stopped short. "Who is that?" he asked perplexed, pointing towards the bed.

He kept nodding off during their drive to the hotel, but he was sure that he would remember if Rufus had mentioned anything about a child.

"Uhm … ,"Lucy said, avoiding his gaze. "Apparently that is … my daughter."

Wyatt looked at her aghast. "You are kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Lucy asked strained. "She isn't much of a talker, but mommy she can say quite clearly."

Wyatt continued to stare at her with his mouth slightly hanging open. This couldn't be true. Why was fate so cruel to her? It was one thing coming home to an unknown fiancé, but this was so much worse. You couldn't simply leave a child. And he didn't even want to think about what this could mean for his feelings for Lucy. A child would complicate things for sure.

Wyatt slowly walked closer to the bed. "Well, she looks like you," he observed. Lucy dangerously narrowed her eyes at him, but he simply shrugged it off. "Just saying."

"So, who do you think is the father?" Rufus asked, causing both, Wyatt and Lucy, to glare at him. Leave it to Rufus to point out the elephant in the room.

"I have no idea!" Lucy said tensely. 'And I don't want to know either' she added in her mind.

"Probably that Noah guy," Wyatt spat out, hardly able to contain his jealousy any longer, earning himself another pointed look from Lucy. "Well, who else could it be?" he mumbled defensively.

Lucy only shrugged with her shoulders. How was she supposed to know that? She was just as new to this timeline as he was.

"What about you, Rufus, has anything else changed for you besides whatever happened to Jiya?" Wyatt suddenly changed the topic. He didn't want to think about Lucy and the child right now. It was much too confusing, overwhelming, and disturbing at the same time.

"I don't think so," Rufus said. "When I couldn't find Jiya, I went home immediately to check on my mother and my brother, and as far as I can tell, they are fine. And we are still living at the same place as well."

"How did you get home?" Wyatt asked Rufus curious. Until now, he hadn't even thought about that.

"I used one of the company cars," he replied. "My own car was in for inspection, remember?"

"But how did you get the key for one of those?" Wyatt asked astounded, why hadn't he thought of this?

Rufus shrugged nonchalantly. "Wasn't that hard to be honest. They are in a lock box in the garage. And apparently they are still using the same access code that they used before our last mission, so I could get one without any trouble. I didn't even notice that anything was off until I reached Jiya's apartment."

Wyatt nodded, taking this all in. "So what has really happened back in the lifeboat, Rufus?" he wanted to know.

"You can't be serious!" Rufus said exasperated. "I already told you, nothing happened!"

"Then why is everything so different? Could it be that we … I don't know … jumped to another reality or something, like a parallel world?" Wyatt guessed wildly.

"No! Whatever is going on here has nothing to do with the lifeboat," Rufus emphasised once again.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Lucy hissed. "I'm with Rufus, I don't think this has anything to do with the jump either."

Wyatt only snorted at that, clearly not taking her opinion on the matter into consideration.

"You realise, that Flynn killed quite a few people back in 1843, don't you?" Lucy continued undeterred. "What if _they_ are the reason for all the changes?"

"Oh yeah? How?" Wyatt challenged her in a superior way, almost like he knew exactly how ridiculous her reasoning was. And it annoyed Lucy immensely.

"I think Lucy might have a point here," Rufus agreed. "Maybe Flynn actually succeeded this time and destroyed Rittenhouse for good," he speculated.

"No, this can't be the reason." Wyatt objected at once. "I mean, Lucy is still here, right? So correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, is her father the greatest of all Rittenhouse dicks out there. The one that pulls the strings. So if _she_ is still here, then we can assume that _he_ is here as well, which in turn means, we know for a fact that Rittenhouse wasn't destroyed in 1843."

Neither Rufus nor Lucy knew what to say to this. It seemed like a logical assumption.

x

Wyatt let his gaze wander through the room again until the little girl on the bed came into his focus once more. He had to do something. He couldn't let Lucy have to deal with this. They had to find a way to set their timeline straight again.

"So what now?" he asked no one in particular. "We can't just go home and pretend nothing has happened, can we? I mean, I don't even know where my home is anymore."

"No!" Lucy agreed vehemently. "There is no way I can do this again. Not this time. Being engaged to someone I don't know and pretending that everything is fine was bad enough, but also having his child is not acceptable."

Wyatt nodded silently, this was exactly what he had suspected was going on inside of her.

"I know this must sound horrible," Lucy continued, after a while. "Especially since I always wanted to have children, but …," her voice broke at that point and was merely a whisper afterwards, "not her. Not like this."

Wyatt immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she cried against his shoulder. "You are not a horrible person for feeling this way, Lucy," he whispered reassuringly while he gently stroked her hair. "And no one has the right to judge you, because no one else had to endure such tremendous changes in their lives yet."

After a moment Lucy reluctantly freed herself from his embrace. "Thank you," she said weakly, wiping the last of her tears away.

"Any time," he smiled tenderly, brushing a strand of her hair out of her face. Then he suddenly realised what he was doing and quickly dropped his arm to his side, as if he had burnt himself.

"It is getting light," Wyatt observed when he looked out the window to avoid Lucy's gaze.

"I really want to check up on Jiya," Rufus spoke up, surprising the other two with his request. "Make sure she is fine. And maybe she can also help us find out what happened to the timeline. What exactly we have changed."

Lucy frowned at him. "I thought you have no idea where she is?"

"I don't, but I'm sure someone at Mason Industries can tell me her whereabouts. They must be back at work soon, don't you think?" Rufus reasoned.

"Good idea," Wyatt agreed. "We really could need some inside information from Mason Industries right now."

"I'm not sure that will be enough though," Lucy voiced her concerns. "I don't think Mason Industries can provide us with all the answers."

"You have a better idea?" Wyatt asked surprised.

"Rittenhouse," Lucy said simply. "As you've pointed out so nicely, they still must be around. So I really think I should talk to … my 'father' about this."

"No Lucy. That is bad! You know how dangerous those maniacs are," Wyatt protested fiercely.

"Yes, but we are their only chance to get rid of Flynn. We are the only ones who have access to the other time machine."

"Exactly!" Wyatt argued. "What do you think they are going to do with you when you show up there now?"

"I don't know, but I'm willing to risk this to …"

"But I am not!" Wyatt interrupted her appalled. "My job is it to keep you save, which means that you are not going anywhere near them. If anyone is getting involved with Rittenhouse, it will be me!"

"No!" Lucy flared up. "The only thing that might work in our favour is that I am the daughter of Benjamin Cahill. He more or less told me that he is not going to hurt me. So if I pretend to finally come around and agree to work with them, we might actually have a chance."

Wyatt vehemently shook his head no during her speech. He would never agree to this madness. _Never_! "No Lucy!" he said forcefully.

"Wyatt, please trust me on this," she pleaded. "I know what I'm doing."

"I agree with Lucy," Rufus interjected. "Truth is, you and I are expendable, man. In fact you even more than I am. Advantage of being one of the very few people who can pilot the time machine. Anyway, I think Lucy is the only one of us who has at least some kind of protection."

"Then I'm coming with you," Wyatt insisted, looking Lucy directly into the eyes.

"No!" Lucy objected defiant, returning his look sternly. But when she noticed the concern on his face, her gaze softened as she said, "You can't, Wyatt. You _have to_ stay here."

Wyatt was desperate now. "I'll keep out of sight, and I promise that I won't interfere unless you absolutely need me to."

"Uhm, no, that's not …," Lucy blushed a little as she said that. "I really need you to stay here."

"Why?"

Wordlessly Lucy pointed over to the little girl sleeping on the bed. "We can't leave her here all by herself, and I'm not taking her with me to Rittenhouse."

"Wait! What?" Wyatt asked alarmed. "No! Absolutely not! What if she wakes up?"

Lucy shrugged helplessly with her shoulders. "How am I supposed to know?"

"You are her mother!" Wyatt burst out in panic, but instantly regretted it when he saw the look on her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean that, it's just …"

Lucy defiantly pressed her lips tightly together and crossed her arms in front of her chest, making it clear that their conversation was over. He had screwed up once more, and now she would put herself in danger, and there was nothing he could do about it. On contrary, he was stuck in this dingy hotel room, facing a whole new kind of challenge.


	4. First Clues Lead To More Questions

**4\. First Clues Lead To More Questions**

When Lucy reached the home of Benjamin Cahill, it was still fairly early. She turned the engine off and glanced nervously towards the house, feeling even more tense than the first time that she had parked in this very same spot.

Now that she was here, she wasn't so sure anymore that he wouldn't harm her. Was it possible that he knew exactly what had happened in 1843? After all, Rittenhouse had a frightening way to find out about these kinds of things, even though the rest of the world remained oblivious to the changes around them. The thought made her shiver.

Perhaps Wyatt had been right and this was a bad idea. Maybe being the daughter of Benjamin Cahill wasn't as much a guarantee for her safety as she initially thought it would be.

But there was no turning back now. They needed answers. She just wished Wyatt was with her. It would make her feel so much better knowing that he was right behind her, protecting her from anything that could endanger her. But Wyatt wasn't here. She had to do this on her own.

Lucy braced herself by squaring her shoulders. Rufus and Wyatt were counting on her. And there was also this small part that wanted to make Wyatt proud of her, because she was brave enough to get the information they needed without him having her back.

Resolutely Lucy got out of the car, walked up to the house, and knocked loudly at the door. She waited a few minutes, but when nothing happened, she knocked again. In the end, she had to knock two more times until she could finally hear someone approaching.

Shortly after the door was ripped open, revealing a slightly overweight and disgruntled looking man in his late fifties. Under his open bathrobe, he was wearing boxer shorts and a tank top. "Lady, do you have any idea what time it is?" he asked annoyed, looking her up and down with a fierce expression.

"Uhm, sorry," Lucy stammered irritated. "I'm looking for Benjamin Cahill. He is living here, isn't he?"

"Never heard of the guy, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed," the man said gruffly and slammed the door shut in her face.

"Wait!" Lucy protested, but the door remained closed. Perplexed, she stayed right where she was. So much for her great plan to confront Rittenhouse and coax some answers out of them. Indecisive what she should do now, Lucy looked around. There must be something she could do. The last thing she wanted to do was returning to Rufus and Wyatt empty handed.

She could ask the neighbors, Lucy contemplated, not liking the idea at all as it meant walking around the neighbourhood for hours and probably annoying even more people in the process.

But then, as if on cue, she noticed a woman leaving a house on the opposite side of the street. Lucy made a split-second decision and hurried over to her. "Excuse me! Ma'am?" she called out.

"Yes?" the Woman replied, sounding displeased at being delayed.

"I'm looking for a Benjamin Cahill. He is supposed to live in this neighborhood," she said, slightly out of breath. "Do you know him? It's rather important that I find him."

"Benjamin Cahill? Sorry, I've never heard that name before. But I just moved here about a month ago," the woman apologised.

"Oh, okay, thank you anyway," Lucy said crestfallen, but the woman was already on the move again and most likely didn't hear her.

'Great!' Lucy thought, now she truly had to go from door to door to ask about her father. But due to her earlier encounter with the disgruntled man that she woke up, she decided to wait at least until 8 am. Then, she hoped, most people might be more welcoming. So she went back to her car for the time being and waited.

xxx

Wyatt didn't have clothes to change into, but at least he could finally take a shower. Now, feeling clean for the first time in centuries, he sat down on a chair next to the window. From there he had a good view over the street in front of the hotel, and was also able to keep an eye on the sleeping child.

At some point he must have dozed off though, because he suddenly startled awake again, feeling slightly disorientated for a moment. To shake off the last remains of drowsiness, he yawned widely and got up to stretch. Then he checked the time. It was half past 8 am, which meant he had slept for almost an hour.

Wyatt rubbed his neck tiredly and contemplated if he should catch some more sleep, when he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eyes. To his chagrin, the child wasn't sleeping any longer, but was now crawling across the bed towards him.

"Damn it," Wyatt cursed under his breath, suddenly wide awake. "Oh, okay, stay!" he ordered, when the child had arrived at the end of the bed and was about to slid down. But the girl ignored him, and instead started staggering tiredly in his direction as soon as she had gotten to the floor. And if that wasn't dismaying enough already, she also reached out for him, clearly demanding to be picked up.

"Uhm, listen kid, your mother will be back soon, I promise, so why don't you lie down again and sleep until she does?" Wyatt suggested, backing away from the approaching child, one arm outstretched to keep her at bay, but at the same time ready to catch her in case she might stumble.

It didn't stop her though, she simply reached out more desperate for him and whined something that awfully sounded like "Daddy!"

Wyatt stopped dead, staring perplexed at the tiny human being in front of him. "What did you just say?" he asked alarmed, uncertain if he had heard her correctly.

But of course she didn't repeat herself as she had finally been able to catch up to him and was now grabbing the hem of his shirt tightly in her little fists. With mixed feelings, Wyatt finally gave in and awkwardly picked her up. He held her with outstretched arms right in front of him to have a better look at her face, trying to see if there was indeed any resemblance between them. But all he could see was Lucy. Well, except her eyes perhaps, which were just as blue as his own. But was that enough to make such an assumption? Was it possible that he and Lucy …?

No, that was ridiculous. Lots of people had blue eyes, that fact alone meant nothing. Maybe this Noah guy had blue eyes as well. And the child was obviously not old enough yet to actually know what she was saying anyway. She probably just said the first thing that came to her mind. She also wasn't entirely awake yet, so even if she knew what she was saying, she certainly must have mistaken him for someone else. There was no way that he and Lucy could have a child together. Even if some things had changed again, they simply didn't know each other long enough to have a toddler. In fact, they hardly knew each other long enough to have a newborn.

Wyatt wasn't sure though if that conclusion relieved or saddened him. A little bit of both perhaps. He wasn't ready for a child, and certainly not with Lucy, but he also didn't want her to have one with some random guy that she didn't even know, let alone care about.

The little girl started to squirm, making it clear that she didn't approve at all of the way, he was holding her. Afraid that he might drop her, Wyatt quickly drew her tight to his chest. There she instantly snuggled up against him, apparently feeling much safer now.

"Fine, if I let you stay like this, do you promise not to tell Lucy what has just happened here?" Wyatt requested, gently rubbing the child's back. The whole situation was awkward enough as it was, the last thing he needed was Lucy's child running around, falsely exclaiming that he was her father.

The little girl blinked tiredly up at him and rubbed her eyes. "No," she said. Wyatt frowned at her, not sure if he should take that as an agreement or refusal. "I think you meant yes," he corrected her.

"No!" she said again with a little more emphasis, then yawned, closed her eyes, and rested her head trustfully against his shoulder.

Wyatt wasn't going to admit it out loud, and certainly not to Rufus or Lucy, but having her snuggled up to him like this felt awfully nice.

xxx

During his drive to Mason Industries, Rufus wondered how he should get inside without his ID card. The night before, he had left the property through the back gate, as it was closer to the garage and the launch area of the time-machine. But without his access card, there was no chance that he could get back inside the same way, which therefore meant, that he had to use the front gate now.

Of course there were guards who probably might recognise him, and even let him through without identification, but there was no guarantee that they were on duty today. And the others, who didn't know him, well, there was no way telling how they would react to him trying to enter a high security facility without an ID card.

Rufus took a moment to recollect before he covered the remaining distance to the gate. He didn't need them to let him through, he assured himself, he just had to convince them to call Connor Mason. Mason would be all the identification he required.

But as it turned out, driving a company car had its advantages. They not only let him pass the front gate without any questions, but someone also held the entrance door to Mason Industries open for him, as he saw Rufus leaving the car right in front of it.

And once inside, no one seemed to pay attention to him anyway, so he could move around quite freely.

Now in the daylight, the place was rather busy again, making it appear like nothing had changed at all.

Could that mean that Jiya was still here as well?

Until now, Rufus hadn't dared to believe it. Of course he had hoped, he would find her at Mason Industries, after all, that was the main reason he wanted to come back here, but with all the changes they had experienced since their return, he had tried to keep his hopes at a minimum. But now, with everything looking so normal again, he couldn't hold back those hopes any longer, which was making him almost giddy with excitement.

He anxiously scanned the hall from the walkway above the launch area, his gaze flickering from one desk to another, searching for this familiar sight of her. Then suddenly he paused … he couldn't believe it, she was actually here, sitting in front of a computer, completely immersed into her work, just like he remembered seeing her every day.

Rufus blinked a few times in case he was only imagining it because he so badly wanted to see her there, but she stayed put, typing wildly on the keyboard.

Excited, he quickly moved towards the staircase and hastened down. He wanted to call out for her, telling her that he was back, but he couldn't. For some reason his voice wouldn't cooperate. And then he was finally right behind her, grinning like a mad man as he eagerly waited for her to notice him.

It didn't take long until Jiya sensed that someone was standing right behind her, watching her intently. Slowly she turned around and looked at him quizzical. "Can I help you with something, or do you always creep up like this on people you don't know?" she asked annoyed, when he just kept staring at her expectantly.

The stupid grin disappeared from Rufus' face and was replaced with an expression of complete shock. "I … uhm …" he stammered deflated, while Jiya kept gazing at him with a piercing look.

"Rufus?" A voice that sounded faintly familiar penetrated his foggy brain. Without actively giving his body permission to do so, he turned around to see who was talking to him.

"I can't believe it, it really is you," Connor Mason said delighted. "What brings you here?"

"Well … I …" Rufus was completely lost by now, not comprehending at all what was going on here.

"You know that creep?" Jiya asked, pointing an accusing finger at Rufus while she waited for an explanation from Mason.

"Actually I do. Jiya, this Rufus Carlin," Mason said proudly. "He is a genius, one of the best and brightest. He used to work for me a couple of years ago, but then bailed on me to become a video game developer." The last part he said with obvious disdain.

"You are creating video games?" Jiya asked curious, showing actual interest in him for the first time. "What kind of games?"

"Uh …" Once again Rufus had no idea what to say. This was all new to him after all and it didn't make any sense.

"You don't speak much, do you?" she concluded disappointed. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Rufus," Jiya said and it was clear that she didn't mean it. She then turned back around to her monitor and started working again, effectively ending any further interactions with him.

Rufus cursed himself. Why wasn't he able to talk to her? And why did Mason have to witness this embarrassing display of muteness? He still didn't understand completely what was happening at Mason Industries, but it was more than obvious that he wasn't working here any longer.

"So what brings you here, Rufus?" Mason curiously repeated his initial question, putting a hand on Rufus shoulder and firmly guided him away from Jiya.

"Well I kind of was in the neighborhood and thought to drop in and say hello," Rufus said lamely, suddenly able to use his voice again now that he was out of Jiya's earshot.

"Ah, I see," Mason said, sounding unconvinced.

"What exactly is it that you are you doing here?" Rufus asked bewildered, letting his gaze wander through the hall. He felt like he was having a bizarre case of déjà vu.

This definitely looked like the launch area for the lifeboat. That much he was sure of. But despite everything being so utterly familiar to him, there also were some things that didn't match. Why hadn't he noticed this yesterday already? Here and there he could still recognise the old warehouse this hall once had been, before they had started working on the time-machine. All in all it almost looked like they were behind in their schedule, _like they weren't finished yet._

Rufus had to gulp at that thought. Was that even possible? Could they still be developing the time-machine? No, that couldn't be right, if time-travel didn't exist yet, then how could they have travelled through time already?

"I'm afraid that is classified," Mason said, interrupting Rufus thoughts. "But I guess I could show you around a bit if you like," he offered tentatively. "That is if you are truly interested. The last time I saw you, you didn't seem to care much for my _visions and ideas_ anymore, so to say."

"I didn't?" Rufus asked surprised. Those visions and ideas had always been what had fascinated him most about Mason. He couldn't believe he would have walked away from that.

"I believe the exact quote was 'I'm done with your daydreams, Connor!'"

"Yeah well, things have changed, I guess," Rufus said uncomfortably, giving the place another once-over. He was about to follow Mason when he became aware of something even more troubling than an unfinished launch-area, and an icy jolt went down his spine. The lifeboat was gone.

xxx

There wasn't much to do for a toddler in the hotel room, and Wyatt had reached the end of his imagination to entertain the little girl.

He had given her little soap bars and cream cans, that he had found in the bathroom, to use as building blocks. It wasn't much, but she seemed to like them - at least for a while.

Then he had turned a bed sheet into a ghost 'costume'. Laughing enthusiastically, she had staggered blindly around the room, trying to catch him. But now it was lying forgotten in the corner.

After that, he had folded ships and airplanes out of the papers of a notepad that was lying on the bedside table. The girl hadn't been very keen on the ships though, and had rather pulled apart again than actually played with them. But the planes had been a complete success as long as they weren't too battered up to fly.

But now she was running restlessly around the room, occasionally colliding with him, or the furniture. Wyatt debated if he should stop her before she hurt herself, and wondered how exactly he might accomplish that, when girl ran towards him once again.

"You can't be serious?" Wyatt groaned subdued when she hugged his legs and a very distinctive smell reached his nostrils.

"No!" she replied looking up at him with a _very_ serious expression on her face.

Wyatt grimaced. "We really need to work on your vocabulary," he mumbled distracted, throwing one last desperate look out of the window, hoping against hope that Lucy would return just in time to safe him from this dicey task.

"Okay, let's do this!" he sighed defeated, picked her up and looked around for a good place to change her. "Well, I guess the bed it is."

Wyatt quickly fetched a towel from the bathroom and grabbed the diaper bag from its place right by the door, where Lucy must have dropped it. He spread the towel over the bed as protection for the sheets before he laid the little girl on top of it.

Then he took a moment to braze himself for the job ahead. The child watched him quite intently the whole time, making him nervous. "Don't look at me like that. This is my very first time changing a diaper."

"No!" the little girl said again and started to giggle.

"Oh you think this is funny?" Wyatt asked, laughing as well now. "But don't complain if I do it wrong."

He quickly removed the girl's pajama bottoms and detached the adhesive strips on the sides of the diaper. So far so good, he thought. But when he opened the diaper to remove it, the smell hit him with full force, causing him to jerk back a little. "Geez, what did your parents feed you?" he asked appalled, covering his mouth and nose with one hand.

"It stinks," the little girl observed businesslike, scrunching up her nose.

"Yes it does!" Wyatt confirmed and grinned at her. "So you actually can say more words than just no."

"No!" was the immediate response, and Wyatt was actually okay with that. His initial fear that she might call him daddy again had been unfounded, so that he was almost sure now that he had only imagined it. And a no was innocuous enough that it wouldn't cause any awkward situations between him and Lucy.

Wyatt looked into the diaper bag, pulled a package of wipes out and started to clean away the mess in front of him. Luckily the little girl held still and let him do his part. "I see at least one of us is an expert at this," he observed. "Alright, I think we are almost done here, just a new diaper and you are free to go."

Once again, Wyatt reached into the diaper bag and extracted another package of wipes. He rolled his eyes and put it aside. Of course Lucy would have an extra package of everything at the ready. Next he pulled out a few clothes, a stuffed animal, some unsalted crackers, and yet another package of wipes. But no diaper.

Shell-shocked Wyatt stared into the now empty bag. "Please tell me this is not happening," he muttered faintly. Then he looked at the half naked child in front of him. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't risk letting her run around without a diaper, could he?

At first Wyatt tried to use one of the towels as diaper-substitute, but the thick fabric was too unhandy to actually fasten it tight enough around the child's bottom and it kept falling off. Not least thanks to the little girl who thought all of this was very amusing and kept pulling on the towel, undoing his feeble attempts of knotting the ends together. Wyatt was getting more and more frustrated by that, and he was very proud of himself that he didn't get angry with her and started yelling, although he kind of wanted to.

Eventually, having no better idea what else he should do, Wyatt took off his shirt and wrapped it around her. This worked much better than the towel and not even the girl could loosen it again, although she tried very hard.

Wyatt wasn't sure if his shirt was enough to hold anything back, but he figured a cloth diaper was still better than none at all. And thankfully he still had a vest and the jacket left, so that he wouldn't have to run around with a bare upper body.

xxx

Lucy was waiting for Rufus in her car in front of Mason Industries. At first she had tried to get inside, but the guards at the gate wouldn't let her pass without an ID. So now she was catching up on some needed rest.

A knock at her window startled her awake. It was Rufus and he didn't look very happy. Lucy hurriedly lowered the window. "What happened?" she asked concerned.

"Well, it's bad," Rufus summarised, keeping his emotions in check. "The only good thing is, Jiya is alive, but she has no clue who I am."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry Rufus," Lucy said appalled.

Rufus bravely shrugged her sympathy off. "Yeah well, it could have been worse, couldn't it?"

Lucy didn't reply, she only pressed her lips together and looked at him compassionately. She knew exactly how Rufus was feeling right now. Loving someone who didn't reciprocate that feeling was awful. No matter what the circumstances were. Although she thought that in Rufus's case it was exceptionally cruel. Wyatt might not love her, but at least he was her friend and she was certain that she mattered to him a great deal. But it must be sheer torture to love someone who used to love you back and now didn't even recognise you anymore.

Then again, if Jiya loved him once, there was a good chance that she could love him again, wasn't there?

Lucy opened her mouth to tell Rufus that when she remembered her own situation with Noah, and she quickly closed it again. There was no way she could ever love Noah even if this other version of her did, and not just once but twice now by the look of it. She had honestly tried it, but she simply couldn't make out what this other Lucy had seen in him.

"Anyway, let's go back to Wyatt," Rufus said after while. "Then I can tell you what else I've found out." Lucy nodded absentmindedly, still absorbed in her thoughts while Rufus went to the other side of the car and got in. "So what about you?" he asked as soon as he was seated.

"Hm?" she looked up at him, for a moment confused what he was talking about, but then the meaning of his question sank in. "Oh! I … Don't ask, it was a complete disaster," she sighed. "Turns out that my so called father isn't living in his house, or even his neighborhood anymore. I asked around for what felt like hours, but no one seemed to have ever heard of him."

"Great," Rufus said gloomily. "The one time you actually need them, the whole world suddenly seems to be Rittenhouse-free."

Of course Lucy knew that he was just being sarcastic, but something about his comment made her stomach churn. She wasn't completely sure what was causing this kind of reaction in her. Maybe it was because, in some way, she was part of Rittenhouse as well. Even though she wasn't an active member, or had any inside knowledge, the thought of her father having disappeared so suddenly worried her. But then she reminded herself that he couldn't have gone completely, after all, she was still here. He might have died, yes, but he couldn't have been erased from history like Amy, could he? And Rittenhouse itself was most likely out there as well, they just hadn't figured out yet how to contact any of its members.

"So what now?" Rufus asked, turning Lucy's attention back to him. "Do you have any idea where your father could be hiding?"

"No, none at all," she admitted. The few things she had known about him belonged to another time line now, and they had been almost nonexistent to begin with.

x

When Rufus stomach gave a loud rumble, they decided to stop at a bakery not far from their hotel to get some breakfast.

"I don't know, do you think she can eat this already?" Lucy wondered, looking scrutinizingly at the bagels.

"Has she teeth yet?" Rufus asked.

"I think so…" Lucy said, although she had no clue if that was true, or if she even was supposed to have teeth yet. When exactly did children get their teeth anyway?

"Well, then she can eat them," Rufus concluded.

"I shouldn't have left him alone with the child," Lucy said guiltily when they left the bakery.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he can handle this," Rufus said, not sounding concerned at all.

Lucy looked at him uncertain. "I just .. I don't think it was fair to put this on him… I mean, Wyatt probably never had to deal with a such a small child before, and ..."

To her surprise Rufus had to snigger at this.

"What is so funny?" she asked indignant.

"Well I … don't you want to be a fly on the wall right now and see how our Delta Force Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan is doing? Struggling with a toddler? I bet this is a fight he is going to lose."

Considering how badly she had been handling the child herself, Lucy couldn't find anything funny about this. On the contrary, now she felt even guiltier for putting him in this situation. Especially as they hadn't even accomplished anything by doing so.

Sensing that Lucy couldn't see at all what was so funny about this scenario, Rufus got serious again. "Lucy, of course I can only speak for myself, but I think I know Wyatt well enough to assure you, that neither of us is going to let you deal with this child-situation on your own. We are in this together, all three of us. And if that means looking after a toddler, then that is what we are going to do. _All of us_. He just happened to be the first."

"And we are probably never going to hear the end of that," he added gloomily as an afterthought.

"Thanks Rufus!" Lucy gave him an appreciative smile. "Come on then, we better hurry back and rescue our Master Sergeant before he is completely defeated."

xxx

When Lucy and Rufus returned to the hotel, they found Wyatt sitting on a chair with his feet propped up on the table and the little girl sprawled above his torso, both fast asleep.

"Doesn't look like he was doing that bad after all," Rufus murmured into Lucy's ear, sounding rather disappointed.

"No, not bad indeed," Lucy whispered back, mesmerised by the sight in front of her.

But she couldn't enjoy this scene for very long as Wyatt suddenly jerked awake and set up abruptly, which caused the child to wake up as well.

"Where the hell have you been?" he flared up as he simultaneously sprang to his feet. Involuntarily, Lucy backed a step away from him as she hadn't expected this kind of outburst. The child, startled by his behaviour as well, looked up at him with wide eyes, the mouth hanging open in surprised shock.

"Did you even check the contents of the diaper bag before you grabbed it?" Wyatt asked angrily, finally able to vent his frustration on someone other than the child.

He more or less shoved the girl into Lucy's arms, before he continued with his tirade. "No diapers, but three packages of wipes. THREE," he emphasised, holding out 3 fingers in front of her face. "And don't even get me started on those clothes you packed, they are useless, two shirts and a much too small playsuit."

Lucy looked at him aghast. The last time she had seen him this angry had been when he had found out about the diary. But then he at least had a reason to be angry with her. Not this time though. It wasn't her fault that they were stuck in this reality and that there was suddenly a small child that depended on them. So much for Rufus assurance that he would be willing to help her. And to think that she had felt guilty for leaving him alone with the kid.

"That is not fair," Lucy shouted back in a feeble attempt to defend herself. "This is my first time having to care for a child, how am I supposed to know what belongs in a diaper bag?"

"I give you a clue, Lucy, it is called a _diaper_ bag! You are a professor, right? I'm sure you can figure it out now," Wyatt retorted fiercely.

The little girl in Lucy's arm started to squirm and then began to cry. Overwhelmed with the situation Lucy was near tears herself, but she forced them back as she helplessly tried to shush the child by rocking her clumsily.

Wyatt watched her struggle for a moment before he brusquely took the little girl out of Lucy's arms again. "You are doing it wrong," he accused. "You have to support her, give her the feeling that she is safe," he instructed, then turned away from her and gently cradled the child, whispering soothing words into her soft hair while he walked up and down the room.

"See? That's how you do it," he said arrogantly, after the child had calmed down again.

Lucy was fuming by now. How dared he? It had been his fault that the little girl had cried to begin with. What was he trying to prove here? That she was a bad mother? Well, surprise, she already knew that.

Lucy wanted to shout back at him, insult and hurt him, just like he had hurt her. She even opened her mouth a few times to say something nasty, but nothing came out. All she could do was stare at him furiously while he looked back expectantly, almost like he was waiting for her to say something that would further feed his anger and would allow him to assault her again.

"We brought bagels" Rufus suddenly announced, holding up the paper bag and effectively interrupting their enraged staring contest.


	5. Apologies and Strategies

**I'm so sorry for the awfully long wait, but this chapter turned out to get rather long and I didn't have much time to write lately :(**

* * *

 **5\. Apologies and Strategies**

Sitting here, only minutes after their fight, Wyatt felt awfully guilty and quite ashamed of himself. He hadn't meant to attack Lucy like that. It actually surprised him _how_ angry he had been with her. Of course he had been overwhelmed and therefore tremendously frustrated by the whole situation. And not only because of the missing diaper, but even more so because he hadn't heard from Rufus and Lucy in hours, and had been worried sick about them, especially about Lucy.

And then, when he finally saw her again, all those feelings broke loose at once, resulting in those nasty accusations and insults when all he really wanted to do, was holding her tight and never let go of her ever again.

Wyatt looked down at the untouched bagel in his hand and felt a lump forming in his throat. He wondered what else he would have said if Rufus hadn't been there to bring him back to his senses. It had almost been like he wanted her to argue with him.

Where was that coming from? He had never tried to provoke Jessica like that. Not that it would have worked anyway, Jessica only would have started crying and probably would have left the room until he had cooled off again and apologised to her. But not Lucy, no, Lucy always stood her ground and would fight back if necessary, and he admired her for that. But not today. Today she hadn't fought back and that was actually rather unsettling. Did he perhaps go too far this time? Had he unintentionally hurt her so bad that she didn't want to fight back anymore?

Wyatt chanced a tentative glance over to her. She was sitting on the bed with the child on her lap, holding a bottle of orange juice to the girl's mouth, and watched attentively as she drunk greedily.

God, he really had done an awful job here. It had never even once occurred to him that the child might be thirsty. He truly must be the worst babysitter in history. And he should know that as he had seen quite a bit of it already.

´"She doesn't want to eat," Lucy said just then, sounding concerned. Wyatt hopefully disregarded his gloomy thoughts and turned his focus back to her, but she was looking at Rufus for help and not at him. Not that there was anything wrong with asking Rufus for help, and usually he wouldn't even have noticed this, but right now, this little gesture made it clearer than anything else that he messed up. He was excluded and it stung.

"Maybe she isn't hungry," Rufus suggested uneasily.

"How can she not be hungry? She hasn't eaten anything for hours." Once again Lucy tried to feed the child by holding a piece of bagel right in front of her mouth. But the child only turned her face away and leaned backwards with a stiffen body to bring as much space as possible between her and the offending food in Lucy's hand, while making disapproving noises.

"Then maybe she doesn't like bagels," Rufus concluded as he observed the scene in front of him.

Lucy glared at him while she tried to keep the struggling child upright so that she wouldn't fall of her lap. "You are not helpful," she said strained.

"I … uhm … might have given her an entire package of crackers just before you came back," Wyatt spoke up for the first time since his fight with Lucy. "Though it was more to keep her occupied than to actually feed her," he admitted sheepishly. "Anyway, I guess Rufus is right, she most likely isn't hungry anymore."

Lucy nodded to show that she heard him, but neither looked at him, nor acknowledged him in any other way.

"They were in the bag too, by the way," he informed her. Still no reaction. Now he was getting really worried about her. Ignoring people was his way to deal with situations like this, not her's.

"Look Lucy, I'm really sorry that I yelled at you, okay? I didn't mean to, I swear, I just …" he trailed off, searching for the right words to explain his behaviour when he wasn't even sure why he acted this way in the first place.

"It's fine, Wyatt, I get it," Lucy relented. "The whole situation is … quite unusual, and I know how frustrating it must have been to be forced to look after her."

Wyatt gaped it her in disbelief. He had messed up big time and Lucy was willing to forgive him just like that? She didn't even sound angry anymore. "No, that's not why I lashed out on you. She was actually pretty amazing," he said, pointing at the child.

Lucy only nodded again.

"Is that all you have to say to this?" he asked stunned.

"Why? What do you want me to say?" Lucy inquired, sounding tired.

"I don't know, yell at me, tell me that I messed up, anything really," Wyatt insisted.

Now Lucy was the one being stunned. "You actually want to fight?" she asked incredulous. "That's what all of this is about?"

"No I don't want to fight! I just don't want you to give in that easily when I was so … nasty to you," he clarified.

Lucy sighed deeply. "Can't we simply forget about all of this, Wyatt? Because I think we have way more important things to deal with right now."

"Hell yes, but, don't you see? That is exactly my point! I don't think you actually can forget this just like that. And I don't want to spend the next few days feeling like you resent me although you say that everything is fine between us," Wyatt argued desperately.

"Are you serious?" Lucy snapped. "Now of all times you suddenly want to talk?"

"Yeah I suppose I do," he affirmed, trying to stay calm.

"Fine then, talk!" she demanded, glaring at him expectantly.

"I don't think that is how it works," Wyatt groaned in frustration, no clue how he actually should start explaining everything that was bothering him.

They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Lucy took the pity on him. "Okay, then I'll go first." She paused to gather her thoughts before she began speaking. "You hurt me, Wyatt. But to be honest, I didn't even think about checking the diaper bag when I left the house yesterday. And I'm really sorry that there weren't any diapers in it, but I don't think that gives you the right to treat me like you did. The truth is that I wanted to get out of my mother's house as fast as possible, so it is actually a miracle that I grabbed it at all."

Wyatt gave a short laugh. "Damn it, Lucy, it wasn't even because of the damn diaper bag," he admitted sheepishly. "I guess that was just the thing that tipped me over and gave me an excuse to rant at you."

"Then what is your problem?" Lucy flared up in exasperation. "Because I can't think of anything else I did that was so horrible that I deserved your anger."

When Wyatt didn't answer right away, Lucy was getting really annoyed. First he wanted to talk and now he couldn't even utter one sensible word, but rather chose to brood again. She exchanged a look with Rufus, who obviously thought the same as he rolled his eyes at Wyatt. That actually made Lucy smile. She loved the fact that they knew each other well enough to communicate with glances only. Usually she caught herself having moments like this with Wyatt, but it was good to be reminded every so often that she shared such a connection with Rufus as well.

"I hate situations like this," Wyatt suddenly interrupted their silent conversation. "Being left behind I mean," he clarified when they both looked at him in confusion. "You guys are my team. It is my responsibility to make sure that you are safe."

He paused for a moment to rethink his statement. "Actually, it is even worse than that because you are also my friends, and I … I kind of consider you my family, I guess," he admitted, blushing furiously. "And believe me, there aren't many left who could say the same."

He sighed deeply before he continued. "Anyway, when you left here this morning I was sure that you would let me know how you are doing. This room has a phone, you know? But nothing, not one word from either of you," he said, giving each of them a pointed look before he addressed them individually.

"Rufus, well, although I also wanted to hear from you, I guess I can let that pass as I don't think Mason Industries is such a dangerous place to be, but Lucy, you knew damn well that I was worried about you going to Rittenhouse. What if they had done something terrible to you and I wouldn't even have known, being cooped up like this in a dingy hotel room?"

He was getting agitated again so he closed his eyes and tried to compose himself before he went on. "They could have made you disappear and I might have never found out what happened to you," he had to stop again to take a shaky breath. "That is the worst, not knowing… and I can _**not**_ go through this again," he emphasized.

"I tried not let this affect me, and there were moments when I truly didn't think about it. Thanks to her, I guess," he said, nodding at the child. "But the thing is, it makes me feel so useless being caged in, unable to do something, _anything_. And I guess sometimes it is easier for me to yell at people rather than telling them how worried I have been."

Lucy had tears in her eyes by the end of his speech. "I'm really sorry, Wyatt," she whispered and she meant it. Her morning had been so gloriously uneventful, that it hadn't even occurred to her once that he could be worried. But of course it made sense. After all, _he_ hadn't known that, and if their places had been reversed, she probably would have been angry with him as well.

Wyatt frowned at her, and then he suddenly had to chuckle. "You know, maybe I should talk more often. It seems like I'm actually quite good at it," he said with a mischievous smile. Then he got serious again. "I didn't mean for _you_ to apologise to _me_ , Lucy. All I wanted was explain my behaviour to you. I know I acted way out of line, and I'm so sorry for that."

"For all it's worth, I'm sorry too," Rufus chimed in, causing Lucy and Wyatt to exchange amused looks before they all broke into laughter.

"What about you?" Wyatt asked when they had calmed down again, poking the little girl gently in the stomach. "Are you sorry too?"

"No!" she proclaimed with emphasis.

"Yeah, I thought you might say that," Wyatt grinned and tickled her.

x

"I know this question came up a few times already since the jump, but what are we going to do next?" Rufus asked now that they had cleared the air between them. "I mean we can't stay in this hotel forever, can we?"

"First, I have to get out of these clothes," Wyatt said longingly, tugging at his vest. "Everything else can wait until then."

"I could lend some of my clothes," Rufus said right away. "They might not be an excellent fit, but they'd be clean and probably more comfortable than those pieces of junk."

"But I thought you don't want your family to get involved," Lucy reminded him, astonished by the offer. "At least that is what you told me last night."

"True, but it's different now, isn't it? Last night I was afraid that I might put them in danger. But I think we more or less have ruled that out by now, haven't we?" Rufus shrugged.

"Have we?" Wyatt asked surprised.

"Yeah, well, kind of," Rufus stammered. "At the very least, I don't think we are in immediate danger. And if you hadn't yelled at Lucy, we would have told you that already."

Wyatt grimaced. "Point taken, thanks Rufus."

"Sooo, what happened then?" he asked curious, and Rufus and Lucy filled him in, first Lucy then Rufus.

xxx

"Mom? Kevin?" Rufus called out when they entered the house. They all listened in anticipation but there was no reply or sound of approaching footsteps. "Well, I guess that means we are alone."

"But you have seen her already, right?" Lucy asked concerned, changing the little girl, she was caring, from one side to the other. "She hasn't disappeared as well, has she?"

"No, not that I know of," Rufus said, looking slightly alarmed. "She was here yesterday, and so was Kevin. If they haven't disappeared sometime during the night, they should be here."

"I'm sure they are fine, Rufus," Wyatt said not worried at all as he himself had talked to Mrs Carlin not that long ago. "Maybe your mom is at work," he speculated therefore.

"I seriously have no idea," Rufus confessed. "Back in our time she only used to work 3 times a week in the afternoon, but I guess that could have changed."

"No kidding, I think it is a wonder that you still live in the same house actually," Wyatt observed.

"Yeah well, I bought the house with the help of Connor Mason when I first started working for him, and I guess that part of my history hasn't changed as I _did_ work for him for a while. At least according to him. Anyway, I believe I promised you some clothes," Rufus said and hurried upstairs to get them.

"It's different then I imagined," Lucy said after a moment of silence, walking slowly down the hallway past the sitting room and towards the kitchen.

"What is?" Wyatt asked confused, following her.

"The house," Lucy clarified. "I know it is silly, but I always pictured Rufus's place rather … messy, I guess. You know with empty pizza boxes and clothes lying around and electronic devices scattered everywhere."

Wyatt grinned at that. "Sounds like you are describing my place actually, well, except for the electronic devices, but if you replace them with movies and sport magazines, you pretty much nail it."

"Really?" Lucy asked surprised, turning around to have a better look at him. "I thought your place would be spotless to be honest. Being in the military and such, I imagined that everything would have to be in perfect order."

"Nah, only if I want it to be, but usually I'm too lazy to clean up after myself," Wyatt admitted. "It was different when Jessica was still around though. I guess I just don't see the point in keeping everything in order when it is just me who could be bothered by it. And it's not like I spend much time there anyway, so ... yeah."

Lucy nodded in acknowledgement, no idea what she should say to this. She didn't want to hear about his life with his wife, but at the same time she didn't want him to think that he couldn't talk to her about Jessica either. In fact it was probably even a good sign that he felt comfortable enough to talk about her. It didn't make things easier between them though, and Lucy felt bad that she couldn't be the friend, that she wanted to be and that he obviously needed, because of her stupid feelings for him.

Sensing that he had sounded rather gloomy just now, Wyatt decided to lighten the mood again. "So what about you, professor?" he asked teasingly.

"Me? I'm a mess!" Lucy said automatically, rather thinking of her inner turmoil than the state of her living area.

"Yeah I know _that_ , but what about your home? I mean I have only seen the entrance area so far but that looked fairly orderly to me."

"I do like it when everything is clean and tidy, but I never manage to keep it that way for long. I kind of like putting my things in the most unlikely places without remembering actually doing it," Lucy confessed.

Wyatt chuckled. "Sorry Lucy, but no surprises there."

"How dare you?" she asked, poking him threateningly in the chest with her index finger. "I'll have you know that I'm by far the tidier Preston sister."

"I guess I have to take your word for it," Wyatt smiled, looking directly into Lucy's eyes, on the verge of losing himself in her gaze. Then he suddenly realised with a jerk what he was doing and cleared his throat. "Anyway I wouldn't give up on Rufus yet. I'm pretty sure this is actually his mother's doing and who knows, his room might look exactly how you pictured it."

Just then Rufus returned with an arm full of clothes. "Here!" he said, handing him a pair of jeans and a shirt. "I think they should do."

"Thanks man," Wyatt said and went to the bathroom to change, relieved that he could finally get rid of his dirty clothes. Afterwards he returned to Rufus and Lucy into the kitchen.

Rufus was busy making coffee as they all were still quite exhausted and in desperate need of the caffeine. Lucy was leaning against the kitchen counter next to him, the child still in her arms. The little girl seemed to be kind of subdued now, her head quietly resting on Lucy's shoulder, but Wyatt figured that she was probably bored out of her mind, or tired as well.

He was just about to suggest that they should try to lay her down, in case she needed a nap, when they heard a key turning in front door.

"I guess your mom is back," Wyatt said, and sure enough, a few moments later the kitchen door opened and a woman, loaded with two bags full of groceries, entered.

"Hello?" she greeted them surprised, looking from one of them to the other.

"Hi mom, these are Lucy and Wyatt, they are friends of mine," Rufus said, unnecessarily pointing at them. Then he went to help his mother with the bags.

"It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. I'm Wyatt Logan," Wyatt introduced himself, holding his hand out to greet her properly. "We spoke on the phone yesterday, or rather early this morning. Sorry again for calling so late last night, but it was really urgent, and your son here," he gave Rufus a piercing look, "doesn't have an entry in the phone book."

"That's what I keep telling him. How are people supposed to call you, when they can't find your number anywhere?" Mrs Carlin endorsed at once.

"Yes, how indeed, that is a real problem," Wyatt agreed. "Lucy, doesn't have one either by the way."

"That is not true," Lucy protested.

"Is that so? I guess that means that you must have changed your name to Trevor Preston then. Or is it H.J.W Preston? I couldn't decide which one it was."

"You know, you are not as funny as you think you are," she informed him, before she changed the child's position again and shook out the arm that had been carrying most of the weight.

Mrs Carlin who had been watching Lucy intently, couldn't stop herself asking. "Do you mind if I hold her? It's been a while since there has been a baby around the house, and I don't think I can expect one in the near future either." She gave Rufus a pointed look before she continued. "And, no offence, but frankly you look like you could use a break."

Grinning broadly at Rufus, Wyatt took the girl out of Lucy's arm and handed her over. "Here you go, I think Lucy would be delighted if you take care of her for a while."

"Yes, uh, thanks, she was getting kind of heavy," Lucy said grateful.

"Oh dear, what happened to you?" Mrs Carlin asked appalled when she noticed the shirt, functioning as a cloth diaper, around the child's bottom.

"We, uhm, ran out of diapers," Wyatt said abashed. "But hey, as she is the daughter of a historian, we thought we should give her a history lesson by introducing her to cloth diapers. I mean, children used to wear them all the time in the past, right?"

Now Mrs Carlin looked outright aghast while Lucy stared daggers at him and Rufus tried to hide his sniggers.

"I'm sorry, he doesn't mean that," Lucy apologised, blushing furiously. "We really ran out of diapers a couple of hours ago and hadn't had the chance yet to buy new ones. I know it seems silly, but this was the only solution we could come up with on the quick."

"Oh, you poor thing, do you have a gippy tummy?" Mrs Carlin asked compassionately, rubbing the child's stomach.

"No!" the girl said seriously, shaking her head wildly to accentuate her objection.

Wyatt gave a startled laugh. "Don't mind her, she says that a lot."

"Well yes, but it's all better now," Lucy quickly assured Mrs Carlin before Wyatt, or the child could say anything else and make it worse.

"I hope you gave her lots of fluids?" Mrs Carlin pressed worriedly, apparently not impressed with their childcare so far.

"Of course we have, unsweetened tea and water," Wyatt said, hoping this answer would find her approval at last.

Mrs Carlin nodded in agreement. "Rufus, why don't you check if your brother is up yet? He can make himself useful by going to the store and buy new diapers."

"Oh no, that's really not necessary, Mrs Carlin," Lucy started to protest, "I can do that."

"Nonsense," Mrs Carlin fended her off. "That boy has been dangling about enough lately, and he surely doesn't have to sleep through an entire weekend. And you can call me Eileen, I don't like being called Mrs Carlin in my own home."

"Oh, okay, but I really don't want to impose on you, or your son," Lucy tried again to object.

"And what is your name, sweetheart?" Eileen asked the little girl, disregarding Lucy's protest completely.

"Well, I like to call her little bugger," Wyatt said, earning himself another disapproving look from Lucy and Eileen, and a snigger from Rufus.

"Amy," Lucy said without hesitation. "Her name is Amy."

"Amy!" The little girl repeated happily to everyone's astonishment, clapping her hands in joy.

"What do you think, Amy, should we have a look around if we can find something for you to play with?" Eileen asked the child. Then she turned her attention back to Lucy and Wyatt. "And you guys make yourself at home!" It actually sounded more like a command than an offer, but they knew she only meant it well.

"Rufus will make sure that you get everything you need," she added before she left the kitchen, giving Rufus another pointed look, daring him to disobey her.

"Yes, ma'am!" Rufus said grinning.

"Is that really her name?" Wyatt asked Lucy astounded as soon as Eileen was gone.

"I have no idea," she said. "They don't come with name tags, you know? It was just the first name I could think of."

"Yeah well, I guess it is as good as any name," Wyatt shrugged. "And at least she seems to like it."

xxx

"I still can't believe I'm making video games in this reality," Rufus said crestfallen, letting himself drop onto one of the kitchen chairs.

"What's wrong with that?" Wyatt asked surprised. "I thought you love video games."

"I love playing them, I don't want to make them, that is a huge difference," Rufus snapped. "Do you have any idea what working with Mason meant to me?"

Wyatt helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

"Everything!" Rufus emphasized. "It was challenging, and creative and simply satisfying. I helped inventing a time-machine, for heaven's sake. There is no way to compare that to making video games," he spat.

"Alright!" Wyatt said, raising his hands in surrender. "I got you, man, you love your job."

"Yeah, I actually do," Rufus said, sounding even more dejected now. "Even with this whole time-travelling crap lurking about."

They fell silent, each of them dwelling on their own thoughts. Lucy absentmindedly got out her phone to check it for messages. Wyatt watched her for a while, then he turned his attention back to Rufus. "You said that you think they are building the time-machine right now, didn't you?" he picked up on Rufus' report from earlier.

"I don't know … I guess so…" Rufus confirmed reluctantly. "Of course Mason didn't say it outright that is what they are doing, and I hardly could ask him, but I was there the first time around, I worked with him on the possibility of time-travel from the scratch, when it still was just one of his silly ideas, so yes, that is definitely what it looked like."

"And you said that the lifeboat is gone, right?" Lucy asked again, still not ready to believe this.

"I seriously don't know for sure, Lucy," Rufus said exhausted, asking him the same questions over and over again didn't change the outcome. "All I can tell you is that it wasn't in the launch area anymore. Maybe they removed it for some reason."

"Or maybe it has indeed disappeared," Wyatt concluded soberly.

"Should we, … I don't know, contact Flynn, or something?" Lucy asked uncertain.

"I don't know Lucy," Wyatt said, not happy with this idea at all.

"He might be the only person who can help us figure out what has happened to the timeline," Lucy pointed out.

"Yeah, because he is the one who changed it," Rufus said darkly.

"And we didn't stop him," Lucy countered angrily.

"Stop him? We were outnumbered, remember? There was no way we could have stopped him." Rufus reminded her. "And it's not even like we haven't tried."

"Well, maybe we should have tried harder," Lucy insisted, guilt written all over her face.

"Fine, let's assume that we want to contact him," Wyatt interrupted the two before another fight could break out among the team. "How? We don't know where he is, or what he is up to next. For all we know, he could have gone back already to who knows when, messing history even more up as we speak."

"Well I guess we could …" Lucy began, but then trailed off as she noticed the expectant look on Wyatt's face. "Actually I don't know," she finally admitted subdued.

"What about Agent Christopher?" Rufus asked. "Perhaps she can help."

"Oh I'm sure she would be able to help us," Wyatt replied sarcastically. "By locking us up because she thinks we are crazy. No! I don't think we should risk it. And even if she does believe us, by a miracle, who knows what she is going to do. I think it is more likely that she would do everything in her power to shut Mason down before he can finish building the time-machine, instead of actually trying to help _**us**_. But I think we can presume that she won't believe us anyway. At least not without proof, which we don't have."

"Actually, I know exactly how we could convince her that we are telling the truth," Lucy said, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "But with the lifeboat gone …"

"I think even with the lifeboat around, we would have a hard time convincing her that we are telling the truth," Wyatt said defeated. "Not to mention that we also would have to involve Mason and everyone else who is working there."

"No, that's not what I meant," Lucy interrupted him. "A while back Agent Christopher gave me an USB drive with photos and other memories of her family. She asked me to keep it in the lifeboat with me so that I could tell her all about them if anything should ever happen to them. And well, it is still in the lifeboat."

"How come you never told us about that?" Wyatt asked astounded.

"I'm sorry, please don't be mad, I didn't mean this to be a secret, honestly, I just figured that it wasn't my place to tell you, or anyone for that matter. She trusted me with something really important to her because she had to, but I don't think she wanted anyone else to know how worried she was about the whole prospect of time-travel."

"I'm not mad," Wyatt assured her, slightly put out that she would even think that. "Damnit, that actually might have worked." He sprang to his feet and began pacing through the kitchen, trying to come up with another plan how they could proceed.

"Then what else can we do? I mean we can't do nothing, can we?" Lucy asked despondent, following his pacing with her eyes, hoping against hope that he would have an answer ready.

"Mason," Rufus chimed in, sounding uncharacteristically confident and decisive all of a sudden. "I think he offered me a job. And I think I should take him up on the offer. Maybe I can gather some important information this way. But at very least I can determine if they are indeed just inventing time-travel and if Rittenhouse is involved as well. And with a bit of luck I might even find out if the lifeboat is still there. And if it is, I'm sure I can get the USB drive back somehow."

"That is brilliant Rufus!" Lucy exclaimed delighted, whereas Wyatt remained quiet, watching him scrutinizingly.

"You don't seem to approve," Rufus addressed him, his former confidence faltering again. "Do you think this is a bad idea? Is that it?"

"No, not at all," Wyatt said nonchalantly, walking slowly back to the kitchen table. "I think it is a very good idea, Rufus, just …," he narrowed his eyes at Rufus and looked at him intently. "I'm not sure if you are the right person to do it."

Rufus looked at him perplexed. "Actually, I think I'm the only person who can do it."

"I agree, that is as long as you actually focus on the mission, and don't spend all your time flirting with Jiya?" Wyatt said, grinning roguish.

"How …?"

"Oh come on, don't you think I know your ulterior motive why you want to go back to Mason's Industries so badly?"

"Is it that obvious?" Rufus asked sheepish.

"'course it is," Wyatt shrugged it off, and dropped back onto his chair. "Which is totally fine, by the way, as long as you don't forget about the other thing you have to do. And just for the record, I would definitely do the same."

"Yeah, we all know you would," Lucy couldn't stop herself from saying, and it sounded much more accusatory then she had meant it to be. "But I don't remember _you_ paying much attention to _your_ actual mission back then."

Wyatt frowned at her. What was her problem all of a sudden? He knew that he had screwed up when he selfishly took the lifeboat to go after his wife, but he had thought they were past this by now. That she had forgiven him for putting himself and his needs first. He had thought she of all people had understood that he simply had to try to save Jessica. Back then, she certainly seemed like she did. But maybe he just didn't want to see the truth. Maybe Lucy had been angry with him about this the whole time.

Who was he kidding, of course Lucy was still angry with him, otherwise she never would have said something like that to him, unless….

Suddenly Wyatt had to smirk, which in turn caused Rufus and Lucy to frown at him in bewilderment.

"I'm sorry Lucy, it's just that … no forget it, I can't explain this to you right now." He almost sniggered as he said that.

Maybe one day he would tell her that he hadn't even thought about Jessica when he had assured Rufus that he would do the same, and that she actually had been jealous of herself. Then she would understand his reaction just now. That is if he was right and she truly was jealous, if not … that thought sobered him up again.

"You done now?" Lucy asked in a peeved tone.

Wyatt cleared his throat. "Yeah sorry, anyway, Rufus, go for it, man, I'm telling you, it's worth it."

Lucy huffed at that. "Fine, so Rufus has a mission now, but what about us? Are we just going to wait for him to find something that could help us?"

"No, I think you should go home," Wyatt said seriously after a moment of contemplation.

"What? No, absolutely not! Have you lost your mind? There is no way I'm going back there," Lucy flared up at once.

"But you have to go," Wyatt said calmly but decisive. "You can't keep dragging the kid around. I don't know much about children, but I bet we have been pretty lucky so far that she hasn't thrown a tantrum yet. Besides, I think it could be helpful to find out more about your life in this timeline," he pointed out. "And maybe you can get in touch with your father this way, and ultimately with Rittenhouse."

"No," Lucy vehemently shook her head no. "I can't do this again, pretending that everything is fine and that I'm in love with someone that I don't even know."

"Come on, Lucy. How bad can it be?"

Lucy gave him a pointed look. "I can't believe you are actually asking me this."

"No seriously, Lucy, as far as I know, you have a pretty sensible head on your shoulders, so I don't think you would have picked a bad guy as father for your child."

"So what? Even if he is a decent guy, that doesn't change the fact that I don't know anything about him."

"No it doesn't, "Wyatt agreed. "But it would definitely make things easier. And maybe it truly is this Noah again, then you actually would know him already."

"I _**barely**_ know him," Lucy corrected him. "And that was in an entirely different timeline with a different relationship history, so who says that he wouldn't be completely different as well?"

"I don't think people change that much," Wyatt said confidently. "Look at Rufus for example, his alter ego seems to be pretty much the same."

"Yeah well, that is not exactly the same, is it? If it were Rufus or you instead of someone I don't know, or barely know, it wouldn't be that bad. It probably would be super awkward, but at least I would know exactly what to expect."

Wyatt smirked again at that, while Rufus muttered uncomfortably. "Please, leave me out of this, will you?"

Lucy blushed when she realised what she just had said. "All I mean by that is that you two are easy to figure out, especially you Wyatt. No surprises at all."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at her, then he quickly grabbed the phone that still was lying on the table in front of Lucy without waiting for her permission. "Let's have a look, shall we?"

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked surprised.

"I'm sure that you have the number of your _husband_ , or whatever, stored in your phone," he explained, already scrolling through her contacts. "So if your Noah is in here, I think we can assume that he is the one."

"He isn't my Noah!" Lucy protested annoyed, but allowed him to proceed, watching closely as he inspected name after name.

"Honey-Bunny?" Wyatt suddenly snorted. "Please tell me that _**not**_ what you call your husband?"

Lucy gaped at him in disgust. "I sincerely hope not."

"No Noah," he informed her eventually. "There is a bunch of other guys in here though," he gave her an inquiring look, but Lucy gazed straight back at him without flinching. "Yeah, including _you_!" she said testily.

Wyatt ignored that comment. "I guess, Honey-Bunny it is then," he teased and chuckled again. "And I thought Baby-Doll is dumb."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Lucy snapped, trying to take her phone back from him, but Wyatt was too fast for her and held it out of reach.

"Baby-Doll?" Rufus asked perplexed, having the feeling that he was missing something.

"Never mind," Wyatt said quickly while Lucy blushed slightly. "Can I have my phone back now?" she asked instead.

"Just a moment, let me check something else first," Wyatt said, continuing his investigation. "Damn it, I'm sorry, Lucy, I thought that … or better I hoped, you know, with all these changes around, that maybe your sister would be back," he said rather serious again. "But I can't find her name."

Lucy nodded in acknowledgement then looked bravely up at him. "To be honest, I didn't think she would be, but thank you for checking it out for me."

"But, uhm, your mom is in here," he informed her, holding the phone up so that she could see the entry on the display.

"Maybe she just died recently and I haven't had the heart yet to delete her number," Lucy speculated.

"Or it means that she still is alive," Wyatt pointed out. "Look Lucy, I really don't want you to get your hopes up and risk that you get disappointed again, but maybe you should call her and find out for sure."

"I don't know, Wyatt," Lucy said uneasily.

"It's fine, you don't have to do it right away, okay?" He reached out for her hand and squeezed it compassionately. Lucy gave him a sad smile but firmly squeezed back to assure him that she was fine.

After a moment, Wyatt detached his hand again and started to play with her phone once again.

"Seriously?" Lucy asked. "What else could you possibly hope to find in there?"

"I don't know, pictures perhaps," he said teasingly, winking at her.

Lucy turned pale and made another fruitless attempt to get her phone back. The last thing she wanted was for Wyatt to see pictures of her with someone else.

"Relax, I already checked, there are no pictures, unless you count this preinstalled flower-thingy here, yikes," he said disgusted.

"Oh, you already checked?" Lucy asked slightly annoyed. "Have you ever heard of privacy?"

"Privacy?" Wyatt snorted. "Sorry, but I don't think privacy is getting us anywhere right now. Besides, it's not exactly your privacy that I'm violating, is it?" Then he suddenly frowned. "Strange."

"What is it?" Lucy asked alarmed, her mind racing with embarrassing ideas of what he might have found.

"When I was trying to recall your number yesterday, I could have sworn there is an eight in there somewhere," he explained absentmindedly, still frowning at the display.

"There is," Lucy confirmed. "Two actually."

"Well, congratulation then, your number has changed as well," Wyatt informed her, finally handing her the phone back.

x

Rufus had been following their conversation only half-heartedly. Something had been bugging him the whole time, but he hadn't been able to pinpoint it until now.

"How is it possible that Wyatt's name is in your phone?" he asked Lucy.

"I guess because I put it in there?" Lucy said slowly, uncertain what exactly Rufus wanted to know.

"No, I mean, how do you even _know_ him?" Rufus clarified. "We all met because Flynn stole the time-machine, right? But in this reality, the time-machine doesn't even seem to be invented yet, which also would explain why my name isn't in your phone, because we have never met," Rufus emphasized. "So how is it that you've met Wyatt?"

Lucy stared at him open-mouthed. "I .. uhm … have no idea."

"Maybe it isn't me," Wyatt speculated soberly, not liking the idea at all. "I don't think I'm the only one called Wyatt in this city, and there is no last name, so technically it could be someone else."

"I hope not, because that would be really awkward," Lucy remarked dryly. "I left a few very desperate sounding messages on this Wyatt's phone last night."

Rufus and Wyatt both had to laugh at that. "God, could this situation be any more messed up?" Rufus asked, still chuckling.

"Crap!" Wyatt suddenly exclaimed and sprang to his feet. "Lucy, can I use your once again? I think I better check in with my superior. Apparently no longer part of a certain time-travel mission, so they might think that I have disappeared without permission. And I really don't want to find out what they are going to do with me, if they think I have deserted." Lucy handed him her phone and he hurriedly left the room.

Lucy looked after him, all of a sudden rather pale and pensive. She felt a chill go down her spine, and hugged herself as protection from the cold and to find some comfort.

Rufus watched her worriedly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said. "I'm sure the Wyatt in your phone is our Wyatt. And there is probably a good explanation why you two know each other. I mean we live in the same city, you could have met somewhere else instead."

Lucy looked over to him and gave him a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Rufus asked, still concerned.

"Yeah, I just …" Lucy trailed off and took a deep breath. "I guess I just realised right now that the two of you are the most important people in my live," she gave him another smile before she continued. "What if we hadn't been together on this mission, Rufus? We have done it before, leaving one of the team behind. I can't believe how lucky we have been so far that we didn't mess up and lose one of us for good.

You still have your family, Rufus, but I'm with Wyatt, you two are the only people I have left, so if I would lose you, if anything happened to one of you …" She didn't end the sentence, but there was no need for it, Rufus got her anyway.

"But what about your family, Lucy?" he asked tentatively. "Your sister…"

"My sister? I think we both know that Amy is gone for good. Maybe there had been a chance to get her back once, even if it only had been a small one, but now… I don't I will ever see her again."

Just then the door opened and Wyatt came back in, and by the looks of it, his conversation with his superior hadn't gone well.

"You are not grounded, are you?" Lucy asked concerned.

He looked perplexed at her for a moment. "Grounded?" he asked, for a very brief moment amused by her wording before he got dead serious again. "No, I'm not grounded. As it turns out, I quit and left the army about 2 years ago."

He sank back down on his chair next to Lucy, rested his arms on the table and buried his face in his hands for a moment. "Why would I do that?" he asked distraught, looking helplessly up at his friends for answers.

"Beats me," Rufus said full of compassion. "I'm just as surprised about my choices as you are, man."

Lucy only put a comforting hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

"Oh she is such a sweetheart," Eileen Carlin suddenly said behind them, startling the three people in the kitchen. "But I think she wants her mommy now."

Lucy looked at her confused. For a moment she truly had forgotten all about her so called daughter. Reluctantly, she took the child back and put her on her lap, but at once the little girl started to squirm in disagreement and then reached out for Wyatt.

"Or maybe she rather wants her daddy," Rufus' mother smiled fondly.

"No, I'm not …" Wyatt started to protest at once, but Eileen was already leaving them alone again, and didn't hear him.

Smirking, Lucy handed the child over to Wyatt. "Seems like someone has a crush on you."

"Funny!" he growled, but accepted the little girl without further protests. This was not the Preston girl that he wanted to have a crush on him.

Wyatt made it look easy, Lucy thought. The little girl was completely relaxed as she intently watched every move he made and Lucy felt a little jealous seeing them like this. She just wasn't sure what exactly she was jealous of, him or her?

"It is getting late," Wyatt observed after a look at the kitchen clock. "We better get going, Lucy!"

"We? What?" she asked perplexed.

"Your turn!" Wyatt said, snatching the little girl up and handed her over to Rufus.

"Wyatt, what are you doing?" Lucy asked, watching him nervously.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm coming with you of course."

"Coming with me where?" she asked suspicious, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh come on, Lucy, you know where. Checking out your house," he reminded her.

"No Wyatt!" Lucy objected sternly, staring daggers at him. "I told you that I'm not going back there. I can't do it"

"Yes you can," Wyatt insisted. "And I'll be there right beside you the whole time. I'm not leaving you alone if you don't want me to, I promise."

" **No, Wyatt**!" the little girl repeated loudly, trying to mirror Lucy by looking just as sternly at him.

Wyatt frowned at her for a moment. "You keep out of this," he ordered amused.

"Come on, Lucy," he pleaded, reaching his hand out for her.

"Fine!" she relented, and reluctantly grabbed his hand so that he could pull her of her chair.


	6. Home Sweet Home

I've read and altered this chapter so many times that I'm possibly back to the very first version of it, lol. Anyway, if I have to read it one more time, I probably scream and delete the whole thing, that's why I decided to finally post it instead ;) I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

 **6\. Home Sweet Home**

Lucy glanced over to Wyatt. He hadn't said a word since they got into the car to drive to her house. He made the impression of being entirely focused on the traffic and his driving, but Lucy wondered if he wasn't deep in thoughts instead. Not that she could blame him, there was a lot to take in and to process. So much had changed for all of them, and she had the unpleasant feeling that they only had scratched the surface yet.

And although she was scared what else they might discover regarding her own life, she was even more concerned of what has happened to Wyatt in this timeline. So far, he didn't act like he had put much thought into this, or at least he hadn't mentioned anything yet. Not to her anyway. But Lucy had had a lot of time to think about him when she waited in the car outside of her father's former house, and she was worried sick.

There were so many aspects that could have turned upside down in his life as well. And even though the discovery that they still seemed to know each other was giving her some comfort, the uncertainty of what might happen next scared the hell out of her, especially after her realisation that he and Rufus were the only people left that mattered to her. She simply couldn't lose any of them.

Lucy chanced another look at Wyatt. The fact that he felt the same way about her and Rufus should probably appease her, but surprisingly it had the opposite effect. Not that she doubted for one minute that his feelings for them were genuine, but now that she had time to think about it, she wondered if they truly were the only people left that he cared about.

Lucy swallowed hard and was quite ashamed of her feelings and thoughts in this moment, but she couldn't help it. Of course she would do everything in her power to help him figure out what has happened to him in this timeline, and she sincerely hoped that she would find the strength to pretend that she was happy for him when they did, but she also knew that it would be a lie if the changes were far more substantial than any of them had suspected yet. What if her greatest fear indeed came true and Jessica was still alive?

Lucy was painfully aware how horrible her train of thoughts was, sitting here in the car right next to Wyatt, but she vindicated herself that, if nowhere else, she should at least be allowed to be a little selfish within her own mind, shouldn't she?

Ever since Wyatt had told them that he had quit his job, Jessica being back was the only reason that made sense to her for this kind of action. Lucy knew how much it meant to him, maybe not the job in particular, but making his grandfather proud by serving his country, and she was pretty sure that she knew him well enough by now to determine that the only thing that could make him abandon all of this was his love for his wife.

But then an even more shattering thought crossed her mind. Was it possible that, in this timeline, he and Jessica actually got the little boy, he had mentioned back in 1754? It certainly would be a very good reason for him to leave the military, and maybe would also explain how he and her, Lucy, got to know each other, because of their kids. It was possible, yes, but she didn't like the idea at all.

Lucy swallowed hard against the lump that started to form in her throat. Should she tell him about her assumptions?

The part of her that cared about him and was trying to be his friend knew that she had to tell him, but the other part, that was so selfishly possessive of him, didn't want him to find out.

But of course she knew that her rational side would win eventually, even if that meant that she would end up even more heart-broken than she already was.

Not that she had any right to be heart-broken in the first place, she reminded herself harshly. Wyatt had never even once left any doubt how much he loved his wife and that he would do anything, or almost anything, to get her back. After all, that was the reason why she, not even 24 hours ago, had decided to let go of her silly hopes that she could find love with him one day, hadn't she?

Lucy squared her shoulders and sat up a little straighter in her seat. She could do this, she would be his friend. A true friend that would help him find the happiness, he deserved. In other words, she was going to tell him about her suspicions regarding Jessica in this timeline.

Although, perhaps not right away, she back-pedalled at once, just in case she was wrong. She would never forgive herself, if she was responsible for getting Wyatt's hopes up that his wife was still alive, only to realise shortly after that Jessica has been dead all along. That would crash him for sure. That's why she first needed more evidence to determine if her theory was true, and maybe she, or rather they, were going to find it in her house.

x

"We are here," Wyatt announced suddenly, startling Lucy out of her gloomy thoughts.

"Oh!" she said surprised. "Already? I think I must have dozed off there for a minute."

"Yeah, I could tell, you were a million miles away just now," Wyatt chuckled. "Want to tell me where you went?"

"Not particularly, no!" Lucy said curtly, making it clear that she didn't want to talk about her thoughts at all.

"All right then," he retreated at once, and they both fell silent for a moment, just sitting there, staring at the house.

"Well, go ahead!" Wyatt challenged her eventually, nudging her gently in the side. Lucy turned around and looked at him. "Me?" she asked alarmed.

"It's your house, isn't it?"

"My mother's actually," she corrected him surly.

"Same difference," Wyatt shrugged.

"But what if _**he**_ is inside?" Lucy tried again to stall the inevitable.

Amused, Wyatt raised an eyebrow at her. " _ **He**_?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well, yes, _**he**_ , the mysterious unknown, the child's father, I mean," she clarified, gesturing wildly with her hands as she said that.

"I highly doubt that," Wyatt muttered, more to himself than to her.

"Oh really? And what makes you so sure about that?" Lucy inquired suspicious.

"Just a feeling."

"A feeling? That is comforting," she said sarcastically.

"Just go, Lucy!" Wyatt prompted, sounding weary. "I'll be right behind you. I promise!"

Lucy scrutinised him for a moment, then she asked with a frown. "Where is your gun?"

"My gun?" he asked surprised. "Seriously?"

"Of course I'm serious. How else are you going to protect me?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lucy," Wyatt snorted. "I'm not drawing my gun here. We are not in the past, remember? And whoever is inside this house, assuming there even is someone in there, is most likely not dangerous at all."

"But you don't know that!" she insisted.

Wyatt rolled his eyes at her. "Look, I get it, you are anxious of what you might find out when you go back in there. And I suppose, we could stay here a while longer, observing an empty house, but eventually you will have to go in."

Lucy through him a dark look.

"On second thought," Wyatt continued unfazed. "Perhaps it would indeed be better to wait until it is dark, like a pair of burglars. And who knows, maybe we get really lucky and someone is going to spot us here, thinking that we are some kind of threat, and calls the police. Then you'd have even more protection."

"Do you think this is funny?" Lucy snarled.

"No, but I think you should get it over with, before you turn yourself into a nervous wreck by overthinking it," he pointed out. "Believe me, you are only making it worse than it actually is."

"Fine, you win!" Lucy said defiantly and got out of the car, then she turned back around to look at him. "But just to be clear, if something is going to happen to me, it will be your fault."

Wyatt smirked at her and followed her out of the car. He was sure that nothing was going to happen, but he would be right behind her of course, ready to protect her, just in case he was wrong after all.

Slowly they crossed the lawn. Lucy's gaze was fixed on the house in front of her, whereas Wyatt looked around to search the area. Not that he actually expected to see something unusual or even dangerous, but he had promised Lucy to keep her safe, and despite the fact that he kept mocking her about it, he took his promise very serious.

Sooner rather than later, they reached their destination and Lucy nervously got her keys out. Then she opened the door just enough to peek inside. "Hello?" she called out. "Anyone home?"

Wyatt snorted behind her, then he unceremoniously pushed the door open completely, and gently shoved her through it.

"Stop it!" Lucy hissed angrily, as she clumsily stumbled forward, and Wyatt immediately let go of her, but by then they were already inside the house.

"Looks fine to me," he observed, moving past her with a twinkle in his eyes while Lucy only glared at him.

"Well?" Wyatt looked expectantly at her. "What are you waiting for? Lead the way, ma'am."

"You are insufferable, you know that?" Lucy retorted and pushed him not so gently out of her way.

Wyatt grinned even wider when he followed her into the living/kitchen area.

"See, I told you no one would be here," Wyatt said, after giving the place a quick scan.

"There is also a top floor," Lucy pointed out, not entirely convinced yet. "Just because no one is down here, doesn't automatically mean there won't be someone upstairs." She couldn't believe that Wyatt of all people would be so careless.

"Check it if you want," Wyatt shrugged. "But I assure you, there won't be anyone either."

"And what exactly makes you so sure about that?" Lucy asked again, crossing her arms in front of her chest, this time determined to get a more satisfying answer from him.

"The fact that no one has tried to reach you on your phone," Wyatt explained. "Which means that no one is missing you, or that little girl of yours."

Lucy cringed as he mentioned her "daughter", and thought about remarking that she wasn't hers, but then she pondered over Wyatt's assertion instead. No one was missing her. She knew it shouldn't bother her, but it did. Why wasn't anyone missing her? Involuntarily, this piece of information gave her a strange sense of loneliness.

"Maybe we had a fight, and that is why he isn't calling me," Lucy speculated defensively.

"Fine, let's assume that is the case," Wyatt went along with her, "but what about the kid? You think he doesn't want to know what has happened to her either?"

Lucy shrugged helplessly, how was she supposed to know that?

"Let me tell you from my own experience, it doesn't matter how bad the fight was when your wife disappears. And I can only assume it would be even worse when it is your child that goes missing. So if he isn't a complete dick, he'd be worried sick about the both of you by now," Wyatt said darkly.

"So then why isn't he? Worried sick, I mean?" Lucy asked in a strained voice.

"I don't know, maybe he is out of town, and that is why he hasn't noticed that you weren't home last night, or he could be caught up in work. He is a doctor, right?" Wyatt speculated.

"Assuming _he_ is indeed Noah," Lucy remarked.

"Anyway, just because he, they, whoever isn't missing you right now, doesn't mean they won't miss you at some point," Wyatt clarified and suddenly all his teasing and those annoying smirks were completely gone, replaced with calm professionalism. "Which means that we better get started. You said that it might be possible that this other version of you wrote a diary, right?"

"Well, it is certainly possible. At least that is what I like to do when things get tough, like when my mother became ill, I write them down."

"All right, I think you should search for that one first. And keep an eye out for anything else that might help us find out what is going on here, like photos and documents, anything really."

Lucy swallowed nervously, but nodded. "And what are you going to do?"

"Well, are you okay with me snooping around down here?" he asked her, gesturing around the living room.

"Sure," Lucy agreed. "Knock yourself out!"

x

And so, while Lucy went upstairs, Wyatt started to search the living room. He felt a little strange going through her stuff, almost like an intruder, which he kind of was, even though he had permission to be one, anyway, it was awkward.

He had hoped that there would be lots of photos on the walls or shelves that would give them the clues they needed without having to ransack the whole house, but of course there weren't any. All in all he could see only two photographs on the mantelpiece, and they both showed the little girl at various ages.

But one thing was for sure, Wyatt concluded grudgingly when he noticed the assortment of sport magazines spread all over the coffee table, there was definitely a guy living here.

Of course he had suspected that already, but seeing the proof right in front of him made his insides clench up in jealousy. It didn't help either that there also was a biography of some dead, but most likely highly important, historical figure, lying in perfect harmony next to the sports magazines. It was painfully clear which type of reading material belonged to whom, and Wyatt instantly had this unwanted picture in his head of the both of them sitting, maybe even cuddling, together on the sofa, each one absorbed in their own reading, while their daughter was playing with her toys right next to them on the carpet.

For a moment, he really wanted to hit something, but then he took a deep breath and told himself that there was nothing to be jealous of. This wasn't _his_ Lucy that guy was involved with, but only some kind of copy of her, and _his_ Lucy was definitely not interested in continuing this farce.

Somewhat calmed down again, Wyatt started to randomly open drawers and cabinets to look through them, anything really to keep his mind occupied, so that he didn't have to think about the perfect little family that seemed to be living here. Not that it worked though, he simply couldn't shake off the image of Lucy actually preferring this life to her original one.

Stoically, he continued with his search, the faster they found something, the faster they would be out of here again.

What really irritated him, though, was that he didn't find a lot of things, even in the drawers. Many of them were even completely empty. All in all, the whole place appeared much too clean to him.

Then, involuntarily, his gaze landed on the guy's movie collection. He didn't exactly hope to find any helpful clues there, but suddenly he really wanted to know what type of person this Noah was. Just for research purpose of course, not so that he could compare the two of them and hopefully surpass his rival. And what better way to judge someone than by their choice in movies, right?

One with really good taste, Wyatt had to admit when he found all his favourite movies neatly lined up on one shelf. And if that wasn't disturbing enough already, the bastard had to be a Bond fan too. God, he really hated that guy now, he was way too perfect.

Suddenly he paused and had a closer look at the shelf. There was no copy of _Weapon of Choice_. That was strange. What were the odds that this movie in particular was missing? All the other Bond movies were sorted by their release date, and there didn't seem to be a space left, indicating that one of the movies was currently somewhere else.

Was it possible that the guy simply didn't like it, because the female protagonist was so similar to Lucy, and therefore made him jealous to see her in close proximity to James Bond? At least that was what had happened to Wyatt, when he had watched it, and he consequently had vowed to never ever watch the damn movie again.

But then again, he had been there when the "real" James Bond had hit on Lucy, whereas this Noah fellow didn't have to deal with these kinds of memories. But whatever the reason was, it definitely made Wyatt uneasy that the movie wasn't there.

xxx

While Wyatt aimlessly searched the ground floor, Lucy went straight to the bedroom. If she really was keeping a diary, then it most likely was on her night stand.

Without even having to think about which side of the bed was hers, she went over to the one next to the window. Somehow she just knew it was the right one.

Among other books and a box of tissues, there was indeed a notebook, though it wasn't a diary, as she had hoped, but one of those that she used to write down historical events that she wanted to explore more thoroughly, to use them in one of her upcoming lessons. Disappointed, she put the book away again and opened the night stand's drawer instead. There she found …, well, let's say she didn't seem to be planning on having more children anytime soon. Feeling awkward, Lucy quickly slammed the drawer shut again. This was exactly the kind of information that she could do without.

Still a little flustered, Lucy's gaze wandered over to the other night stand. She frowned when she noticed a phone lying there. Why would anyone leave their phone behind, if they were gone for several hours, maybe even days, in a row? Curious, Lucy picked it up and turned it on. The battery was almost empty, but it still worked. The display showed 6 missed calls from a Lucy, most likely her, and they were all were from the previous night. Trembling with anxiety, Lucy clicked on the most recent entry to play the message:

" _Wyatt, where the hell are you? Rufus and I are at the_ _Sleep-Well Inn not far from away your place. Please call me back as soon as you get this, we are really worried about you."_

The moment the message ended, the battery also died, and Lucy let go of the phone in shock. Her heart was racing wildly, already having caught on to the meaning of this, but her brain felt numb, unable to connect the dots yet. What was Wyatt's phone doing here?

xxx

Having no significant luck with the living room, Wyatt expanded his search to the adjoining room, which looked like an office. Or better, he assumed that it was going to be an office one day. Along one of the walls were several moving boxes stacked on top of each other, giving the impression that the occupants of the house only recently moved in, or were about to move out. Probably the first one though, as the place looked rather as if they were behind with decorating it than packing everything up. At any rate, this certainly explained the lack of stuff in the living room.

In front of the window were two desks, facing one another, and to his chagrin, Wyatt immediately envisioned the owners playing footsie beneath them. He scowled at the desks as if they had offended him in some way.

Disillusioned, he turned his back to them and contemplated to go through the moving boxes instead. He was sure, he would find something interesting in them, but then decided against it. Maybe it was better to get Lucy first, then she could decide if she wanted to search them and if she wanted him to help her.

xxx

Lucy didn't know how long she had been sitting there in the bedroom, still too shocked to move, when she heard Wyatt calling for her.

"Lucy? Where are you? I think I found something."

Then, shortly after, the door opened and Lucy automatically looked up.

"Sorry for disturbing you, but you have been up here for hours, or so it seems, and I …What happened?" Wyatt asked full of concern when he noticed her face. "You are white as a sheet."

"I found your phone," Lucy said simply, somewhat surprised that she could talk at all.

"Seriously? Where?" Wyatt asked perplexed, this was the last place he had assumed his phone would turn up. In fact, he had been sure it simply vanished for good, just like everything else, he once owned.

Wordlessly, Lucy pointed over to the night stand.

"What was my phone doing on your night stand?"

Lucy gave him a significant look. "Well, what do you think?"

Wyatt looked at her for a moment, utterly clueless. "No way!" he suddenly protested as he caught on to her assumption. "There must be another explanation. Maybe I was over for a visit and forgot it here."

"On the night stand in my bedroom?" Lucy asked sarcastically.

"Well … I …" Lost for words, Wyatt sat down on the bed next to her and buried his face in his hands. He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. Yes, he wanted to try things with her, but this? This was so not how he had imagined it. This was way too much, way too soon for him.

"So I guess maybe we spend the night together," Wyatt said slowly, trying to accept the facts. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that we are a couple, right?" he added hopeful.

Lucy didn't know what she should say to this. Was the thought of them being together really so repulsive to him? She chose to not answer, and pretended that she hadn't heard him. Luckily Wyatt hadn't even expected an answer, as his mind was already racing way ahead, coming up with all possible scenarios and implications.

"But you are not thinking that the kid … I mean, she can't be … no way that we … you know?" he stammered.

Once again Lucy chose to simply look at him. "I don't know," she said coldly. "But it would certainly explain why she was immediately attached to you, wouldn't it?"

"That is not possible," Wyatt said at once. "We don't know each other long enough."

He didn't want to tell her that he had given this possibility a lot of thoughts, ever since the child had called him daddy, and had always come to the same conclusion, it just didn't make sense. The timeline simply didn't add up.

"Well, as Rufus said, we obviously didn't meet at Mason Industries for the first time," Lucy pointed out. "So maybe we met earlier in this timeline."

"But that is the point," Wyatt flared up. "I only moved to San Francisco because of Jess. After her death, I couldn't stay in San Diego, not when every corner in this damn city reminded me of her. In other words, there is no way we could have met sooner, Lucy."

"That was almost 5 years ago, Wyatt, and in our timeline we didn't meet until last year, which means there would have been plenty of time for us to meet earlier," Lucy pointed out, trying to keep her cool.

Wyatt nodded, but then shook his head no again. "No, not possible, I simply can't believe this other me would have moved on that fast. I loved her, Lucy, and no offense, but meeting you earlier wouldn't have changed this. No! It wouldn't have been enough time. The child is what? About 2? Which means, we would have had to meet about 3 years ago. So that would have been only 2 years after Jessica's death."

"Yeah well, it could have been worse …" Lucy started to say, but was immediately interrupted by Wyatt.

"How? How could it possibly be worse, Lucy?" he snapped at her.

Lucy looked at him, shocked. She didn't need him to spell it out, she already got the message loud and clearly from his reaction.

"How could it be worse? You could have come home to a fiancé that you've never even met before. One that expects you to return their love for you, and that you remember all the great times, the two of you have spent together," she spat out. "At least with me you don't have to worry about any of this. No lies, no pretense. I am quite aware that you don't love me, and I am just in the dark as you in regards of our supposed past together. So yes, it could have been worse."

"Lucy, I …"

"I know it must be hard for you, but it is not like you've lost Jessica just now. She was already gone, before we changed our reality to this. So what difference does it make if this other version of you moved on more quickly? You didn't! Your feelings for Jessica haven't changed because of any of this. So don't you dare to feel guilty about something that you haven't even done!"

Wyatt wanted to say something to this, but Lucy wasn't finished yet, she had been keeping this in way too long now, and she finally had to get this of her chest. "And don't even think that losing your wife is worse than me losing my sister, because Amy was still there before all of this started and _**we**_ erased her, it was our fault. Without that stupid time machine Amy would still be here, but Jessica would still be dead."

Wyatt stared at her open-mouthed, unable to say anything.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to use the bathroom," Lucy said and fled the room as fast as possible before she broke down in front of him.

xxx

Although Lucy only had said that she needed to use the bathroom as an excuse to get away from him, she went there anyway. She needed to be alone for a minute, and she was worried that Wyatt might follow her to sort out their dispute immediately. He often had the annoying habit of doing that, and she hated to admit that most of times, he was right to clear the air right away. But then again, they usually were on missions when these things happened, and they simply couldn't afford to avoid each other for very long periods of time. But right now, she had the luxury of taking all the time she needed to calm down again, and she was going to do just that.

Shakily, she sank down on the toilet seat, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to compose herself. She knew that she had hurt him by saying these things to him, but he had hurt her first. And what stank the most about it was, he probably didn't even realise that he did, after all, he had no clue how she really felt about him, and that the thought of being married to him didn't shock her as much as it probably should have.

After a moment, Lucy's thoughts went back to the forbidden topic that was Jessica. So obviously, she had been completely wrong and Wyatt's wife wasn't miraculously back, like she had feared she might be. So at least in this respect, the timeline hadn't changed. But instead of feeling some kind of relieve, Lucy possibly felt even worse.

What if Wyatt hated her now for replacing Jessica in such a crude way? Not any of this had been her fault, nor had she ever had the intention of _literally_ replacing her, but since when was love, or hate, a rational thing?

Lucy bit her lower lip and tried to fight back the nauseating feeling that began to spread through her body. Wasn't it enough already that she had to live with the knowledge that Wyatt would never be able to love her back? Apparently not, as she now also had to deal with the fact that he was probably blaming her for being here, while his real wife wasn't.

"Come on, get a grip, this is only a chemical reaction in your brain," she told herself with a heavy heart. "Just some annoying neurotransmitters having their way. You can get over this! All you have to do is ignore them and focus on the important stuff, like fixing the timeline."

Lucy closed her eyes again and leaned back against the toilet tank behind her. Why was this happening to her anyway? She had been quite content with her life as it had been before the time-travelling. Things had been so much better when she was still so blissfully ignorant to the agony of truly being in love with someone. She assumed, it would be great, if the opponent of her attraction would reciprocate her feelings, but of course she had to fall in love with Wyatt Logan of all people. As if her life wasn't complicated enough already…

xxx

Wyatt felt awful. He had done it again. Why was everything he said to her lately so different from what he really wanted to tell her?

Of course he was shocked about this recent discovery. And he was pretty sure that his word choices could have been better, even though he had no idea what exactly he had said to her, but it must have been bad. Though he couldn't understand how his self-loathing about the way another version of him had treated Jessica, ended up with Lucy being hurt. What did he say?

Wyatt looked around the room. Everything was so surreal. It would have been strange enough to be left alone in Lucy's bedroom, but now this was most likely his bedroom as well. He felt his cheeks flame up when he thought about the things they probably were doing in here. And a moment later an icy chill went down his spine, when his thoughts went back to his late wife again. How could he have done that? Betray her like that?

Sure, _he_ had been ready to move on as well, but the difference was that _he_ had not only mourned Jessica for quite some time, but _he_ also had tried to get her back repeatedly, even by manipulating the timeline itself, whereas this other version of him had done nothing of this.

But then again, it was Lucy they were talking about. Could have meeting her earlier really made a difference? After all, he had been convinced that he would never feel like this for another woman ever again, but then Lucy came along and everything changed.

So yes, it was Lucy this other Wyatt had fallen for, which kind of made it all a bit better and comprehensible, in his opinion, but that still didn't make up for the rashness. And it also wasn't fair to Lucy and the little girl, if that idiot still hadn't been fully over his previous wife before he moved on. Wyatt couldn't help but feel disgusted and ashamed of his other self for doing all that.

Or could it merely have been a one time thing and she ended up pregnant, which then kind of forced him to do the right thing and marry her? This thought disgusted him even more, if possible, because that would mean that Lucy had just been some form of distraction, which by comparison, made it even worse. Lucy deserved so much more than being some loser's rebound.

But however this went down, one thing was awfully clear to Wyatt though, that this guy's behaviour was tarnishing his current relationship with _his own_ Lucy. Stupid bastard!

Oh god damn it, what a mess! He couldn't believe he had screwed up with her again in such a short amount of time. Once more, he had to make it up to her somehow, and apologising was probably a good way to start.

xxx

Eventually, Lucy decided that she couldn't hide in the bathroom any longer, so she opened the door and walked quietly out into the corridor. She couldn't hear him, but she assumed that Wyatt was probably waiting for her downstairs.

"Wyatt?" she asked, noticing that her voice sounded embarrassingly rusty due to the lack of use. She cleared her throat and went down the staircase towards the living/kitchen area before she tried again. "Are you here?"

He wasn't, which meant that he either was still upstairs, or had left her entirely. She wouldn't put it past him that he had done just that, but she also knew, he would be back before long. He always came back, no matter what they were disagreeing about.

Lucy sighed and plopped down on the sofa. The best thing was probably to wait right here, then she would hear him immediately when he came back.

As she waited, her gaze drifted over the toys on the floor in front of the sofa. Gingerly, she picked one of the stuffed animals up, and suddenly felt a gush of warmth spread through her, almost like joy, at the prospect of seeing the child again. His child!

But as sudden as that strange feeling took over, as soon it was gone again, and left her even more miserable than she had been before.

xxx

He found her on the sofa, forlornly staring off in the distance. In her hands, she was holding a stuffed animal that she absentmindedly kneaded. She was unhappy, he could see that, and it was his fault.

"Hey!" he tentatively announced his presence to her.

"I'm sorry," Lucy said at once without looking at him. "I didn't mean to say those awful things about Jessica, I …"

"No, I'm sorry Lucy," Wyatt interrupted her immediately, quickly walking over to her. He'd be damned, if he let her feel responsible for his behaviour. This was his problem, not hers. "I know my behaviour recently is unexcusable, but I …," he paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "It is just that I don't know what to think or feel anymore, Lucy. This has all been too much."

"Don't you think I know that, Wyatt?" Lucy asked, finally facing him. He guiltily watched as a few tears run down her cheeks. "Nothing of this has been easy for me as well. I'm sick and tired of everything that has happened since our last jump. And I'm completely drained emotionally. I want this to be over, all of it."

"Yeah me too," Wyatt whispered, sitting down next to her on the sofa. "And I'm so sorry that you always seem to be in the line of fire lately when I can't handle things anymore," he added, gently brushing the tears from her cheeks. "But you have to believe me that the last thing I want to do is fight with you, okay? As I already told you, you are way too important to me."

Lucy nodded and leaned into his touch for a moment. Of course she knew that, but so was Rufus. It was good to hear him say it again, but it was not exactly what she wanted from him. She wanted so much more, and it hurt that he couldn't give it to her. And all too soon his hand dropped from her cheek again, leaving it cold and with a sense of loss.

"On the bright side," Wyatt said, trying to sound happy, "we finally know what has happened to me."

Lucy only gave him another one of her looks, and he immediately shut up again. Damn, couldn't he do anything right these days?

"So, do you think all of this means that we are married?" Wyatt asked nervously. He was aware that he was treading on thin ice here, but he had to know, and he wasn't sure if he had the courage to bring the subject up again later.

"Knowing you, we probably are," Lucy said calmly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Wyatt asked surprised.

"What do you think it means? Between the two of us, you are the romantic one, the one that makes the commitments, and goes all the way," Lucy clarified.

"You make it sound like it is a bad thing?" Wyatt said, raising one eyebrow at her in confusion.

"Not at all, it's just not for me," she said lightly.

"So you are saying that you don't want to get married? Ever?" he wanted to know. "I mean you did get engaged to Noah."

"That wasn't me," Lucy corrected him sharply.

"Fine, this other version of you then," he shrugged her interjection off. "Nevertheless, the point is, it seems that you got serious two times already in alternative timelines, so I guess we can make the assumption that is not exactly something you would rule out completely, right?"

"I don't know," Lucy said defensively. Why was he so keen on hearing her admit that she wanted the kind of love, he had had with Jessica as well? So what if she wanted all of this? It's not like it was any of his business, and he certainly wasn't the one who would give it to her. He had made that quite plain not even an hour ago.

"I just never really saw the point in it, to be honest. As I told you, I don't believe in only ones, soul mates, eternally love and all that nonsense," Lucy said in a distant voice, trying desperately to scotch possible concerns, he might have, that she wanted any of this, that she even remotely thought about taking Jessica's place in his life, although her insides squirmed up unpleasantly with longing for him.

"Wow, so you are saying that if we are indeed married in this timeline, then it is entirely my fault?" Wyatt asked taken aback.

"It probably is, yah," she replayed nonchalantly, smiling at him as if it wasn't a big deal.

Wyatt felt like she just punched him. He could have sworn that Lucy, deep inside, wanted this kind of life, the whole package, a husband, a good home, a fulfilling job, and a couple of kids. It was part of the reason why he hadn't tried to get involved with her earlier, although he was feeling this attraction to her for quite some time already. He had kept his mouth and feelings shut, because he hadn't been sure, if he indeed was ready for this kind of commitment yet again.

But maybe he had been wrong? Maybe he had interpreted her giddiness after finding out about Jiya and Rufus, and the longing in her eyes, when she listened to Bonnie and Clyde, completely wrong. Or maybe she just didn't want all this with him, and that's why she was so dismissive all of a sudden.

"Fair enough," he said, burying his feelings as fast and deep as he could, so that she wouldn't notice anything, and forced a hopefully convincing smile on his face. "But if you think that I'm taking all the blame for this whole screwed up situation, that we are in right know, then think again. If it's my fault that we are married, then I accuse you of being responsible for the kid."

"Deal!" Lucy smirked at him, somewhat relieved. Maybe it wasn't so awkward after all, being trapped with him in this situation, if they were able to make jokes about it.

"Anyway, it's late, I think we should head back soon to Rufus and Florence," Wyatt said as unemotional as possible.

"Who?" Lucy asked, blinking at him in confusion.

"Our … uhm … the little girl I mean, her name is Florence," he clarified sheepishly.

Lucy stared at him surprised. "How on earth do you know that?"

"It's … well, it says so on one of the doors upstairs," he explained, pointing with his thumb in the general direction.

"Oh, does it really? I didn't notice that." Lucy admitted dumbfounded.

"Seriously, I never understood why people are doing this, I mean, shouldn't they know their kids' names and in which room they are sleeping?" Wyatt blurted out, happily taking the opportunity to rant at something. "I doubt that there are many time-travelling parents out there, who come home one day and simply don't remember these things, do you? Or that they even have children, for that matter."

Lucy couldn't help but grin at his tirade. Apparently they, or better these alternate versions of them, were exactly those kinds of people that he was excoriating right now.

Wyatt suddenly stopped when he noticed her grin. "What?" he asked baffled. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing," Lucy said, grinning even wider. Then patted him on his thigh before she got off the sofa. "Come on, let's go, sweetheart."

"Wait! What is so funny?" he called after her.


	7. The Changes in History

So, this is my first update after the release of season 2, and although I would love it if my story was still consistent to the characters and the informations we get about them this season, it is not! I've already planned my whole story out way before I even posted the first chapter, and despite the fact that I haven't written it yet, I'm not going to change things now that I got more insight. Especially as I do have finished some conversations and events for later chapters already that I'm really proud of and can't wait for you to read. That being said, I'm not above using tiny bits and pieces from season 2 that actually fit into my story :D

* * *

7\. **The Changes in History**

Wyatt and Lucy had only left about half an hour ago when it started. At first the little girl had only been a little cranky and fidgety, but soon the whining began and now she was downright hysterical.

"Please stop, you are going to wake my mom and Kevin up." Rufus begged exhausted, rocking the child in what he hoped was a comforting and calming way. "Come on, you've been fed and you are wearing a clean diaper, what else could you want?"

It's not that he really expected an answer from her, but her next whine sounded a lot like mommy. Rufus sight deeply and soothingly kissed the child's forehead, "She'll be back soon, I promise."

Unfortunately that promise didn't have the desired effect and, if possible, the little girl cried even harder.

"Can't you shut her up?" Kevin demanded annoyed, as he tiredly headed towards him. "Some of us actually want to sleep in this house."

"What do you think I'm trying to do here?" Rufus answered back testily, never stopping his fruitless attempts of calming the girl down again.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is, it is _not working_ ," was his brother's snarky retort, before he stormed out of the room again and only just managed to not run his mother over.

"He is right, you know?" Eileen sighed, taking the child out of his arms to sooth her herself. And to Rufus' relief, but also his chagrin, it actually worked. The girl calmed down significantly when his mother held her. "What kinds of parents leave their daughter with total strangers anyway?"

"Mom please…" Rufus groaned. He didn't even bother trying to set her straight about her assumption that Wyatt was the child's father. If she knew that he wasn't, she would be even more irritating.

"Who are these people, Rufus?" his mother pressed for an answer.

"I already told you, they are friends of mine!"

"Friends? Really? Then how come you've never even mentioned them ever before?"

"Haven't I? Are you sure?" Rufus feigned cluelessness.

"Tell me the truth, honey, are you in trouble?" her voice was full of concern now.

"What? No, mom! I'm not in trouble. What makes you think that?"

"Well, when you showed up here last night, you looked kind of distraught. Then you head out again, and I didn't hear from you until this morning when you came back with your _friends_ and their baby in tow. And to be honest with you, I don't think they know what they were doing with that poor little girl."

"Yeah, well, I guess this is all still new to them," Rufus immediately defended Lucy and Wyatt.

"New to them?" Eileen cried out in disbelief. "This isn't a newborn, Rufus, so if they haven't learned to take care of her by now, they probably never will."

"Mom …,"

"I'm sorry Rufus, but I have to ask this. You haven't kidnapped that child, have you?" she asked anxiously.

"Kidnapped?" Rufus burst out horrified. "No, of course not! Do you honestly think I would take part in something horrible as that?"

"No, I just … something isn't right here, Rufus, I can feel it," Eileen tried one last time to get a satisfying answer out of him.

"Well, you are right about that one, but it is nothing you have to worry about, this is something between Lucy and Wyatt and … well, me I guess, but I promise you that it isn't something illegal, or dangerous, or anything else you have to be concerned about."

"All right then," his mother said, handing the child back to him. "I guess I have to trust you on this."

Rufus looked sadly after his mother and felt terrible that he couldn't give her a better explanation. But his guilt only lasted for a moment, because shortly after Eileen had left, the crying started anew, putting all his other concerns in the rear.

"Oh, come on, Amy, or whatever your name is, please calm down. I'm sure Lucy will be back soon. And Wyatt too," he added as an afterthought in case the little girl preferred him.

But nothing seemed to help, the child cried just as hard as before, her face was beet-red. And sometimes, when she kept wailing without a pause for long periods of time, Rufus was even afraid that she forgot how to breathe entirely, and was therefore quite relieved every time she took a shuddering gasp.

xxx

"So what are we going to do after we have picked up … uh … Florence? Simply going back there?" Lucy asked, pointing back over her shoulder towards the house.

"I guess so," Wyatt said uncertain. "What else are we supposed to do? I mean we live there, right?"

"Yeah, but … doesn't it feel strange to you?"

"Living in your mom's house? No, not at all!" Wyatt said sarcastically, opening the door at the driver's side of the car. "My greatest achievement so far."

Lucy sighed deeply before she followed him.

"Listen," Wyatt interrupted the awkward silence that had settled between them. "We don't have to do this, you know? I mean it's like you said earlier, we don't have to pretend with each other, so I maybe I could crash at Rufus' for a while, or get another hotel room …"

"Oh no, you are not going to take the easy way out of this mess!" Lucy protested at once. "Unless you plan on taking the kid with you of course, then by all means, get yourself a hotel room, or stay with Rufus, but you are not leaving me alone with a toddler."

"I wasn't trying to bail out," Wyatt rectified his intentions. "I just thought it might be less awkward if we don't stay in that house together."

"I don't think it makes any difference where you are staying, it is going to be awkward no matter what, so maybe it is even better if we face the situation head on and address any issues we may have right away," Lucy argued, "and to be honest, I would be more comfortable if you are around. Just in case our assumptions are wrong and there actually is another reason why your phone was in my bedroom. I really don't want to be alone if my _real_ husband shows up sometime tonight."

"Yeah well, in that case I better stay on the couch," Wyatt joked half-heartedly, "or you would have a lot of explaining to do."

Lucy blushed a little and quickly turned the conversation away from sleeping-arrangements. "So what are we going to tell Rufus?"

Wyatt didn't answer immediately, contemplating her question thoroughly. "The truth, I guess," he said after a while. "I mean, it's not like we can hide this from him for long, can we? He would find out eventually and probably be pissed at us for not telling him. I know I would."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Good, because I really don't want to lie to him either. All of this is so messed up already that we really don't need to make it even more complicated by deceiving Rufus."

xxx

They hadn't spoken another word for the rest of the drive, each one of them trying to process everything that was happening to them. Lucy was still deep in thoughts when she followed Wyatt out of the car towards Rufus' house.

"Oh great," Wyatt mumbled, stopping in his tracks, causing Lucy to bump into him in the process. Reflexively, Wyatt turned around to hold on to her, so she wouldn't topple over.

"What is it?" Lucy asked alarmed, looking quickly around to see if there was something wrong.

"Don't you hear that?" he asked bleakly, still holding her steady.

For a moment, Lucy looked at him bewildered, but then she could hear the screams too. "Oh!"

"Just what we needed, a cranky toddler," Wyatt sighed defeated, finally letting go of her again. Then he looked hopeful at her. "Any ideas how to handle this?"

"No, you?"

"Beats me, unless …," he had to chuckle at his own idea, "no we probably can't do that."

"Do what?"

"Run as fast and far away as possible and let Rufus deal with this," Wyatt grinned mischieviously.

"Not your worst idea, actually, but he is supposed to be our friend, so …," Lucy shrugged, but with an impish glint in her eyes.

"Yah!" Wyatt sighed defeated, and rang the door bell.

It didn't take long until the door was yanked open, revealing a weary looking Rufus with a screaming child in his arms.

"Finally!" he greeted them, sounding cross. "What took you so long?"

"Sorry," Wyatt mumbled while Lucy immediately reached for the crying toddler.

The child instantly calmed down, snuggling into the crook of Lucy's neck, her little arms trying to reach around her to hold on to her. Following her instincts, Lucy hugged the child even tighter and started whispering soothing words of comfort against the child's soft curls.

While she did that, Lucy could actually feel that Wyatt was watching her, and it made her incredible nervous and awkward. What was he thinking in this very moment? Could he see how much she enjoyed holding the child now that she knew it was his?

She slightly turned away from him so that he couldn't see her face, and therefore hopefully disguising any feelings from him that she might be showing right now.

"I want you to go back to Mason Industries, first thing in the morning!" Lucy suddenly heard Wyatt instruct Rufus, and turned back around in surprise. This she hadn't expected at all. "We have to know what is happening here and for that we are going to need insight information from them," he continued.

"Tomorrow?" Rufus frowned. He too was taken aback by Wyatt's sudden intentness. "I'd love to, but, well, tomorrow is Sunday."

"Monday then," Wyatt said eagerly, "but not a day later!"

"Okayyy…" Rufus replied uncomfortable, exchanging a bewildered look with Lucy.

But Wyatt wasn't done yet. "As for you, Lucy, I want you to do some research to find out what else has changed since our last jump. If we want to go back to our timeline we have to know as much as possible about this one."

"And what are you going to do?" Rufus asked tentatively.

"Finding Flynn," Wyatt said determined.

"Oh really? And how are you going to do that?"

"Flynn isn't the only one who still has some friends in the right places. I think I'm going to call in some favors."

"Are you sure you still can do that?" Rufus said doubtful, "I mean, things have changed, obviously, and your friendships might not exist anymore."

"Well, it is worth a try," Wyatt snarled impatiently.

"I just …" Rufus threw his hands up in defeat. "You know what, just do whatever you want!"

"Great, let's go, Lucy!" Wyatt commanded tersely, already heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Rufus asked confused.

Wyatt stopped in his tracks and faced them. "I, um, I'm staying with Lucy," he clarified, avoiding looking at her when he said that. "You know, to help her with the kid," he finished lamely, before he abruptly turned around again and stormed out of the door.

Lucy stared open-mouthed after him.

"What's with him?" Rufus asked confused.

"I'm sorry, Rufus, he is just…," but then Lucy shook her head in annoyance, "Actually, I don't know what he is, and I'm done making up excuses for his behaviour."

"Has something happened at your place?" Rufus wanted to know.

"Well, uhm …" Lucy stopped and helplessly looked after Wyatt, then she turned her attention back to Rufus. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? It was a long day and I'm pretty tired."

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks Rufus," Lucy said and gave him a one-armed hug. "And thanks for taking care of her."

x

Wyatt was waiting for her outside. He was leaning against the car with his arms crossed in front of his chest, looking surly.

"What was that about?" Lucy confronted him angrily. "What happened to telling Rufus the truth?"

"I … I panicked, okay?" Wyatt replied strained. "We talk to him tomorrow."

"No, YOU talk to him tomorrow!" Lucy corrected him forcefully.

"Fine," Wyatt retorted sharply, "I'll do it, now get into the car so that we can finally go … uhm … home."

Lucy threw him a dark look, but decided not to argue back, but opened the rear door instead to carefully put the little girl in her seat. While she did that, she was quite aware that Wyatt was watching her through the rear-view mirror.

The entire drive back Lucy wondered what was going on with Wyatt. Earlier, he had made the impression to be okay with this new situation, but then something must have happened when they picked up the child that turned him into this moody and insensitive jerk once more. And if his silence wasn't enough to prove her point, then his driving was. He wasn't reckless, mind you, and she wasn't scared at all that he might lose control, but he was driving kind of fiercely, and most likely faster than was strictly allowed.

There was one person in the car though who greatly enjoyed his driving. The little girl in the back giggled happily every time Wyatt took a turn a tad too fast for Lucy's liking. Curious, Lucy watched Wyatt carefully every time this happened, and at first he didn't seem to notice, but then he looked up at her, using the rear-view mirror again, and Lucy could have sworn that she also saw a little smile sneaking up onto his face when he did that. And maybe, just maybe, he was taking those sharp turns for another reason than his temper afterwards.

xxx

Wyatt blinked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, trying to remember where he was. Then it came back to him and he sprang up from the sofa as fast as possible. He was married to Lucy and they had a daughter.

For a moment this realisation left him just as dumbstruck as it had the day before, which then, shortly after, was replaced by this strange warmth and happiness that almost overwhelmed him. His heart started to pound faster and all of a sudden he was so awfully nervous and full of self-doubts again, just like he had been the previous night when he saw Lucy cradling their crying child. He couldn't do this! This was insane.

Restless, Wyatt looked around the room, taking everything in for a second time. What were they even doing here, living in her mother's house? Couldn't he provide for his own family and afford to get them a place of their own?

Then he remembered that he had quit his job about 2 years ago, so maybe he couldn't. That also must have been around the time that little girl was born. It was strange, he never even once had thought about leaving the army when he and Jessica had talked about having children. Of course their children had only been hypothetically whereas this one was very real, but still, why did he do that? Had something happened to him perhaps? Had Lucy insisted that he would quit his job?

He was so deep immerged in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Lucy until she was standing right in front of him.

"Hey!" she said shyly.

"Hey," he greeted back, not sure what else he should say.

She looked dishevelled, literally like she had just fallen out of bed, which probably wasn't such a far-fetched assumption, and she was balancing the little girl on her hip.

He had seen Lucy in many outfits and various states of undress, but this was probably the most intimate situation yet. Wyatt's mouth instantly went completely dry and he had to swallow hard.

"Daddy!" the girl squealed at once when she noticed him and held her arms out for him. He only hesitated for a moment before he almost automatically reached out for her and took her out of Lucy's arms.

"Oh good," Lucy said relieved when she handed the child over to him. "I wanted to ask you to keep an eye on her while I take a shower, but I wasn't sure if you are up to it."

Wyatt frowned at her. "What is that supposed to mean? I said I would help, didn't I?"

"So you got this?" Lucy simply asked without mentioning his strange behaviour from the previous night, not wanting to get into another fight with him.

"Yeah, we are fine," Wyatt said. "It's not my first time looking after her, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. The diapers are upstairs in her room."

"Funny!" Wyatt grimaced.

x

Wyatt looked at the little girl in his arms. It felt different holding her this time, now that he knew who she was. When she still had been just Lucy's daughter, he actually had enjoyed watching her, but now he was incredible nervous around her, so he quickly sat her down next to her toys that were still scattered all over the floor.

Then he waited until he heard the bathroom door closing, and he could be sure that Lucy was out of ear-shot, before he sat down on the sofa next to the little girl, leaning forward to get a better look at her.

"Alright, you and I, we have some very import business to discuss. Are you listening?"

The girl looked up at him, her big blue eyes waiting expectantly for him to continue, and for a moment Wyatt was too overwhelmed once again when he realised who was responsible for giving her those eyes.

"Okay, seems like we are stuck with each other for a while," he finally said hoarsely, "so I suggest that we set a few ground rules. First, no pooping when Lucy isn't around. Changing your diaper once was an experience that I don't want to repeat. And second, no crying unless there is a real emergency. Do you think you can do that?"

The girl blinked a few times at him as if she was actually contemplating his suggestions. "No!" she eventually said and turned her attention back to her toys.

"Oh come on, work with me here, this is for both our sakes," Wyatt pleaded. "I might look like your dad, but I'm not, and trust me on this, you really don't want me to be either. I promise you though that I will do anything in my power to make sure that your real father comes back, okay? But in the meantime, I could really use your help dealing with all of this."

The little girl suddenly got up and walked over to him. Once she had reached him she held on to his legs to support herself, before she placed a toy car into his hand.

"Thank you?" Wyatt said, uncertain what he was supposed to do with it.

"Play daddy!" she explained, pointing behind her towards her other toys.

"Um …" Just then the door bell rang, saving Wyatt from making up excuses why he couldn't play with her. As the little girl was still propped up against his legs, he unceremoniously picked her up to take her with him to answer the door.

"Oh look who it is, it is uncle Rufus. Say hi to uncle Rufus!" he instructed the little girl.

"No!" she replied and turned her face away to hide it against his shoulder while tightly grabbing his shirt in her tiny fists.

Rufus looked at them suspiciously. "How do you do that?" he asked in disbelieve. "When I was watching her yesterday, she did nothing but screaming her lungs out."

"It's easy, actually," Wyatt said sheepishly, "she thinks that I'm her dad, so ... yeah."

"Why would she think that?"

"Because I am, well, kind of, turns out that Lucy and I are most likely married in this timeline and this," he pointed at the child in his arms, "is our daughter."

"You are kidding, right?"

"Nope, I wish I was, but it suddenly got very real to me last night when we picked her up. She does look an awfully lot like Lucy, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess so … and if you are her father, it would certainly explain her temper," Rufus said darkly.

Wyatt grimaced, but didn't contradict his statement.

"So … are you okay with this?" Rufus asked curious.

"I don't know. It certainly is rather mind-blowing, and scary as hell, and I could do without being called daddy, but it feels surprisingly good to be hugged like this," Wyatt admitted, gently rubbing the girl's back who still clung to him tightly.

"And what about Lucy? How is she handling this new development?"

"Well, your guess is as good as mine. I don't know how she really feels about all of this to be honest. She seems to be more at ease with it than I am, or," he gave a short laugh, "maybe she is just better at putting up a good front."

Once again Rufus had the feeling that he was missing out on something, but he didn't ask for an explanation as he just assumed that it was an inside joke that only Lucy would understand. He used to have lots of those with Jiya, and he would give anything to get them back.

"Anyway, why don't you come in? No need to linger around the entrance when there is a perfectly fine sofa in the living room. Way more comfortable to talk things through," Wyatt suggested with a half-smile.

"On second thought, how about breakfast first?" he asked the little girl, when his own stomach growled hungrily.

"Where is Lucy, by the way?" Rufus asked, following Wyatt into the house.

"Taking a shower," Wyatt said, pointing upstairs when they passed the stairway.

"So what do you want? Toast?" Wyatt asked the little girl as soon as they were in the kitchen. "No? Alright, let's see what else we got." He went for the refrigerator, but the girl obviously had other plans as she reached up to the cupboards next to it. Wyatt followed suit and opened it for her.

"You want this?" he asked, pointing at package of frosted cereals, and to his astonishment, the girl nodded. "Then cereals it is, good choice," he said, putting her in the high chair so that he could search for bowls and spoons. "You want some too, Rufus?"

"No, thanks, I already had breakfast," he replied, watching with fascination how Wyatt interacted with the child. It almost looked like he did this on a daily basis.

"You sure she can eat this?" he asked concerned, when Wyatt prepared two bowls of cereals, one for the little girl and one for himself. "What if she chokes on them?"

Wyatt hesitated for a moment. "Nah, I mean, she obviously wants them, so I guess she had them before," he said confidently. "And I'm pretty sure that I have seen kids around her age eat cereals on TV."

"On TV, huh?" Rufus raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know, maybe it would be better if we waited for Lucy?"

"And you honestly think she would know that?" Wyatt snorted. "Because I know for a fact that she doesn't. This," he pointed at the child, "is just as new to her as it is to us."

"Yeah, but she is a woman, aren't they supposed to know this stuff instinctively?" Rufus speculated.

Wyatt looked at him, highly amused. "Please, let me be there when you tell her that."

"Daddy!" the girl whined then, reaching out for the bowl in his hand, causing both men to look at her. Wyatt with an awed expression on his face, still surprised that one tiny little word could induce such strong feelings inside him, and Rufus with the same fascination that he had just moments ago when he first came aware that this was real, that Wyatt was a father now.

"How about if I only give her a little bit to see how it goes," Wyatt suggested, suddenly not so certain anymore if it was indeed a good idea.

"You know this stuff has a lot of sugar in it, don't you?" Rufus pointed out.

"So?"

"Just saying, in case you care about healthy nutrition."

"Right now, I only care about getting some breakfast into that kid without turning it into a tantrum."

"By all means, it's your kid," Rufus shrugged. "Kind of."

"Well, here goes nothing," Wyatt said nervously, loading half of the spoon with cereals to feed the little girl. But instead of opening her mouth to receive her breakfast, she tried to grab the spoon from his hands.

"Guess she doesn't want to be fed," Rufus observed wisely.

"Oh you think?" Wyatt said sarcastically and let go of the spoon. Then they both watched mesmerized how the girl skillfully started to eat the cereals on her own, entirely without choking on them.

"So is that what it is going to be like from now on?" Rufus couldn't resist to ask with a mocking glint in his eyes. "Instead of travelling through time and fighting the bad guys, you and Lucy are going to play house?"

"I don't know, but it definitely has its moments," Wyatt murmured when he spotted Lucy appear behind Rufus, clad in shorts and a top that was actually more revealing than hiding anything from him.

"Rufus! Hi," she greeted and pulled him in for a hug that actually caused Wyatt to get jealous. How he wished that she would hug him too, dressed like this.

"Oh good, you made Florence breakfast," she said then, tearing him out of his not so appropriate thoughts. "To be honest, I was a little unsure what I should give her," she admitted.

Wyatt smirked at that, turning to Rufus with a look that said, 'see I told you she wouldn't know,' but Rufus wasn't paying attention.

"Florence? Seriously? Who would name their child Florence these days?" Rufus burst out appalled. "Don't you think it's a bit old-fashioned?"

"Hey, don't look at me!" Wyatt said defensively, giving him a pointed look before he nodded in Lucy's direction.

Lucy angrily rolled her eyes at them. "YES!" she exclaimed tetchily, "Apparently **I** would name my child that," she exclaimed. "But for your information, there are several great women in history that did great things who were named Florence."

"Of course there are," Wyatt scoffed sarcastically. "Like Florence Nightengale."

"She isn't the only one, you know, there are others as well. Florence Kelley for example, or Florence Howe, or …"

"My point exactly," Rufus interjected. "It's old-fashioned."

Lucy glared at the both of them before she targeted Wyatt. "But apparently YOU didn't have any objections to the name."

"You don't know that. Maybe my other choices were even worse," he pointed out serenely.

Lucy huffed at that. "Fine, let's hear your suggestions then."

Wyatt shrugged. "I don't have any."

"Then what are you complaining about?" she asked exasperated.

"I'm not," Wyatt objected.

"But you obviously don't like her name, so this is your chance for counterproposals," Lucy insisted.

"I never said that I don't like her name, in fact, I don't care what her name is. She is not my daughter. It is as simple as that," Wyatt suddenly burst out.

Lucy only gaped at him. She simply had no clue what to say to this. He was right of course, and just a few hours ago she had felt the exact same way. But that had been before she knew who the girl's father was. Now everything had changed for her. She might not have thought explicit about having a child with Wyatt, but she also couldn't deny that the idea had crossed her mind once or twice. After all, she had feelings for him and she had always hoped to find someone like him one day to have family with, so it had been a natural process to imagine what it would be like if they indeed got together.

Well, when she was really honest with herself, thinking of Wyatt in that role was a very recent development. In fact, she never would have thought she could fall for someone like him at all. Before she got to know Wyatt, someone like Noah actually would have been more of a choice for her. But of course she would never admit that out loud.

Wyatt must have noticed that he somehow had hurt her with his comment. He was surprisingly good at that. "Look Lucy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's not even the idea of having a child with you, but having a child at all," he tried to explain himself.

"Wyatt, it is fine, honestly, I get it …," Lucy interrupted him quickly. The last thing she needed right now was to hear again that he wasn't interested in her in that way when she so clearly was.

"No, let me explain," he pleaded. "I told you that Jess always wanted to have a little boy, right? And after she died, I did feel sorry that I didn't grant her that wish, but the thing is, I wasn't ready at that time, heck I was actually terrified of the mere thought of having a child, for several reasons. And after I lost her, I was certain, and if I am completely honest, maybe even a tiny little bit relieved that this would never happen to me.

What I'm trying to say is that right now, I'm further away from being able to be a father than I ever was. I'm just not the right guy for that job."

Lucy swallowed hard, out of the three of them, he was actually the one who had connected most with Florence, and it hurt and baffled Lucy that he could reject the little girl so easily. "Well, looks like you don't have a choice in that matter, because I'm not doing this all by myself. Believe it or not, I'm just as unready to do this as you are."

Wyatt opened his mouth to reply something, maybe to argue why she was more suited for this than he was, but then he only sighed deeply and nodded without saying anything. They locked eyes for a moment and quietly agreed that they would do this together, no matter what.

"So what are you going to call her?" Rufus interrupted their silent conversation.

"What?" Wyatt asked bewildered and a little annoyed too.

"You are not calling her Florence, are you? I mean that is quite a mouthful."

"How on earth am I supposed to know that?" Wyatt retorted testily.

Lucy shrugged helplessly. "Flora, maybe? Or just Flo?"

"I just thought, maybe you should continue calling her Amy," Rufus suggested. "It's short, dynamic, and she seems to like it."

"Seriously?" Wyatt asked irritated. "Don't you think we have better things to do, like concentrating on finding out what is going on here, so that we can return to our own timeline as soon as possible? Because then we don't have to worry about nicknames for such a dumb name as Florence."

Both Lucy and Rufus looked at him aghast, but this time he was not going to apologise for his outburst. Instead he mumbled something about needing to get dressed properly as he was still only wearing a shirt and boxer shorts, and hastily left the kitchen to be alone for a while.

xxx

Lucy and Rufus were still in the kitchen when Wyatt returned. They were sitting at the counter and were quietly talking over a cup of coffee.

"I think we really should get started now," Wyatt said as soon as he was in earshot, looking solemnly at both of them.

"Get started with what?" Lucy asked irritated, taking another sip from her cup.

"Finding out if anything else has changed!" Wyatt clarified.

"Yes, about that, what exactly are we supposed to do? Reading every history book available?" Rufus asked amused.

"Of course not," Wyatt said, rolling his eyes, "just the ones that are about anything even remotely interesting to Rittenhouse."

"Which is?" Lucy challenged him.

"Why would you ask me this? You are the historian, aren't you? This is your job to figure out."

"Sure, no big deal at all. Do you have any idea how many books that would include?"

Wyatt only shrugged at that. "No, but you could start with the pile of boxes full of books in the office over there," he said pointing towards the adjoining door opposite of them.

"You know, I guess it might be easier to narrow down what we are looking for, if we actually knew who was involved with Rittenhouse throughout history," Rufus indicated. "And do you know who could help us with that? Flynn!" he gave Wyatt a significant look. "Which I believe is supposed to be your job to find, isn't it?"

"That is right!" Wyatt said peevishly, before he addressed Lucy, "Can I use your phone again?"

"Sure," Lucy said and went to get her purse. "Or you could recharge your own," she added under her breath so that Wyatt couldn't hear her.

Wyatt took the phone from her and immediately began to dial, turning his back to them and walked away, as if he didn't want them to overhear his conversations.

"And what exactly are we going to do now?" Rufus asked Lucy, who was glaring daggers at Wyatt.

"Come on," she said, grabbing Rufus' arm to drag him towards her office. For a moment she also considered taking Florence with her, but she was busy playing with her toys on the floor and Wyatt was only a few feet away from her, so Lucy decided that it was okay to leave them be.

In the office, Lucy looked over to the boxes that Wyatt had mentioned, and immediately spotted one that contained some of her history books right on top.

"So we are simply flipping through them to see if anything has changed?" Rufus asked, "because I really don't know if I'm actually able to help you with that. As you might have noticed, history isn't exactly my cup of tea."

"Well, um, maybe you could focus on the stuff that everyone knows, like the shooting of John F. Kennedy," Lucy suggested. "If you ask me, that one would be right up Rittenhouse' alley."

"Well, that might actually work, but I think I'm going to use the computer rather than flipping through those books," Rufus said, giving them a wary look.

And so they set to work, Rufus using the computer, checking out websites, and Lucy sitting opposite of him at the other desk, going through her books.

They had worked silently for several minutes, when Rufus suddenly spoke up. "Hey, did you know that the surname of the secretary of JFK was Lincoln? And she was in the motorcade during his assassination as well."

Lucy smiled at Rufus' obvious excitement about something that he claimed wasn't his thing. "I do, but do you know that both John F. Kennedy and Lincoln were succeeded by a President Johnson? Lincoln by Andrew Johnson, that is the one you saved by the way, and Kennedy was succeeded by Lyndon B. Johnson."

"Really? What are the odds?" Rufus said awed, already typing in the names to check it out for himself.

"I know, right? You'd be surprised how many of those little coincidences and strange connections can be found in history," she went on, suddenly reminded of all the times she revealed these little peculiarities to her students, and was rewarded with an increase of attention, or even the occasional laugh. This was what she enjoyed most about her job as it gave her the feeling that she actually got through to her students and that they, if nothing else, would always remember these little nuggets of information.

"This is strange, according to this website, it was indeed John Wilkes Booth who shot Lincoln and not an unknown gunman aka Flynn. How is that possible?" Rufus asked confused, turning to Lucy for an explanation.

"Let me see!" Lucy demanded alarmed. She feverishly scrolled through the page, taking in as much information as possible without actually reading the text. Then she closed the website and searched for another one to see if the content matched the previous one.

"It is exactly like it is supposed to be," she said faintly, "like we never went back in time and changed it."

"Are you sure?" Rufus asked astounded. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know…" Lucy said, then another thought hit her, and she quickly opened another website. Wordlessly, she skimmed the site as well, then she suddenly gasped and stormed out of the office.

"Uhm, Lucy?" Rufus called after her, for a moment too stunned to react, but then he quickly followed her.

x

Wyatt was still on the phone, talking animatedly. He was also holding on to Florence, who had his right hand in a tight grip while she tried to climb up his legs, laughing happily at every failed attempt.

At any other time, Lucy would have found this sight endearing, but at the moment she hardly even noticed it, when she sprinted towards them and snatched the phone out of Wyatt's hand. Unceremoniously, she ended the call and went straight to her list of contacts.

"What the … do you have any idea who you just hang up on?" Wyatt asked annoyed, finally picking the little girl up to stop her antics.

"I don't care," Lucy snapped impatiently, flipping through the list.

"What is going on?" Wyatt asked Rufus, now a little worried about her strange behaviour.

Rufus could only shrug clueless.

"She isn't here," Lucy finally announced deflated, sinking weakly on the sofa behind her.

"Who isn't there? What happened?" Wyatt tried again, his voice now soft and full of concern.

"Amy," Lucy whispered scarcely audible, before the tears started to run down her cheeks.


	8. Good Surprises

**Anyone still remembering/reading this?**

 **I'm really sorry for the slow updates, but I swear, I never stopped working on this story (at least not for long periods of time), and I sincerly hope that the updates are worth the long wait.**

* * *

 **8\. Good Surprises**

"What about Amy?" Wyatt asked, feeling even more confused now, and utterly helpless, as Lucy broke down in front of him. Distressed, he readjusted his hold on the little girl, he was still carrying, before he turned his gaze away from Lucy to Rufus to get an explanation. But Rufus only shrugged, seemingly just as clueless as Wyatt was himself.

Having no idea what else he was supposed to do, he sat down on the sofa next to Lucy and took her, as best as he could, into his arms without hurting the child on his lap.

To his astonishment, Florence immediately mirrored his actions and tried to hug Lucy as well.

Wyatt couldn't help but smile for a moment at this gesture, before he turned his attention back to Lucy.

"What happened?" he asked concerned, gently rubbing her shoulder. Lucy didn't answer, but simply hugged the little girl back, and snuggled tighter into his embrace, crying silently into his shirt.

Wyatt threw another desperate look over the sofa at Rufus, wordless pleading with him to help him out here.

"I honestly don't know," Rufus mouthed, shrugging his shoulders to emphasize his statement.

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at him, an obvious attempt to decipher what he was saying, so Rufus continued a little louder. "I mean, besides the fact that we somehow managed to change at least parts of the history back to its original course that is."

"Wait, what?!" Wyatt cried out, unsure if he had heard Rufus correctly. "Are you actually saying that we somehow reversed something that we have changed in the past?" he repeated, and his mouth went dry when Rufus nodded. "What _exactly_ has changed back?" he hoarsely demanded to know.

"I'm not sure, I was looking up some stuff about JFK and Lincoln and, well, turns out that Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth again," Rufus summarized briefly.

Wyatt looked back at Lucy for confirmation, but she only kept sobbing into his shirt, acting like she hadn't heard a single word they were saying.

Then it dawned on him what must have happened. "Rufus you idiot!" he groaned through gritted teeth, drawing Lucy even closer against his chest.

"You thought that if the history concerning Lincoln has changed, than maybe your sister would be back too, right?" he murmured into her hair. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. I know this must be hard for you, but if we truly have managed to restore the assassination of Lincoln to its original timeline, then maybe there is actual hope that we can do the same with the Hindenburg," he said soothingly. "We just need to figure out what is going on here and get our hands on a time-machine again."

"But that's the thing," Lucy finally whispered in a tearful voice. "It _has_ changed, the Hindenburg blew up on May 6, 1937 exactly as it was supposed to, and everyone that had previously died in the explosion, died again, including Irene Doehner, so my father never could have married Elizabeth Merrick, her granddaughter."

"But then …"

"I don't get it," Lucy sniffed, unwittingly clutching his shirt tightly in her fist while despairingly looking up at him. "Why isn't she here, Wyatt?"

"I … I don't know!" he admitted, brushing his lips against her forehead in a sudden need to feel her more closely, and to show her that she wasn't alone in this.

Lucy briefly shut her eyes, savoring this unexpected affection towards her. "For a moment I really thought that…," she trailed off. "I miss her so much, Wyatt," she added in a soft voice.

"I know, Lucy! But I promise you that we are going to find out what is going on here, and then we try everything in our power to get Amy back!" Wyatt repeated his assurance from earlier.

"Amy!" the little girl on his lap declared, and started to squirm so wildly that he let her slip to the floor. Wyatt's first impulse was to go after her, when he saw her taking off towards the front door, as soon as her feet had touched the ground, but he also didn't want to leave Lucy's side, so he turned around. "Rufus, could you …" he pleaded, pointing after the escaping toddler.

"Uhm, yeah, sure," Rufus said, following her into the hall.

With Florence gone, Wyatt was now able to wrap both his arms around Lucy, hugging her even more tightly without the fear of squashing the child between them.

They stayed like this for what felt like hours, both unwilling to let go again. But more likely only a few minutes had passed until Rufus returned, and Wyatt reluctantly let go of Lucy. Suddenly aware of how close they just had been, they sheepishly turned away from each other.

"Look at this," Rufus announced happily, oblivious to the awkwardness that had settled between his friends. "She isn't even crying this time," he said, referring to the little girl in his arms.

xxx

So far they only had proof that the assassination of Lincoln, and the incident with the Hindenburg, had somehow corrected themselves, but had no idea about everything else that had changed because of them over time. That's why they went back into the office to have a look at all their other missions, as soon as Lucy had calmed down enough and could think straight again.

It was tedious work, at least in Rufus and Wyatt's opinion, but they all agreed that it had to be done. They had to know what they were dealing with, and so they divided the missions between the three of them and set to work.

They didn't stop there though, after they had examined all their missions, they went on to check out following events that Lucy thought could have been affected as well.

It kept them busy most of the day, but at least in the end, they had certainty. They weren't completely sure if every small detail had returned to its original course of events, but as far as Lucy could tell, all the major changes truly had been reversed somehow.

"I just don't get it, how is this even possible?" Lucy said, after she they were done.

"What about our last mission though?" Wyatt asked. "There must be something that we did to cause all of this."

"You mean like letting Flynn kill Rittenhouse's top leaders?" Rufus asked sarcastically.

Wyatt grimaced, "Yeah, something like that, although I don't understand how that could have affected our other missions," he voiced his doubts. "Maybe that would explain why things have changed back after this particular mission, but what is with everything that has happened before 1843, like the Alamo? Why has that changed back as well?"

He turned to Lucy for answers, but she only shrugged. "I honestly don't know and I also can't imagine that we'll find anything about our last mission in one of the books, probably not even online," she continued, sounding downcast. "This wasn't an important historical event, but a private meeting between Rittenhouse members, and I actually would be surprised if it got mentioned at all."

"So does that mean it is over?" Rufus asked hopeful, closing the website, he had been reading, and leaned back in his chair.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, narrowing her eyes at him in confusion.

"Well, as far as we know, everything we have previously changed went back to normal and the lifeboat has disappeared, so … there is nothing we can do anymore, right?" he elaborated his train of thoughts.

"No, it is not over!" Lucy said at once, sounding tired but determined. "Remember, Flynn still has the mothership."

"And like you just said, we don't have the lifeboat any longer to go after him," Wyatt pointed out, dismayed.

"Exactly," Lucy declared, grateful that Wyatt vindicated her point of view. "Flynn could be changing history right now, for all we know, and we wouldn't even notice it," she added in a slightly high-pitched voice. "I'm sorry, but this is _far_ from over yet, Rufus."

"Yeah, but who says that Flynn still has the mothership?" Rufus countered. "Maybe it has disappeared as well, just like the lifeboat did."

"Maybe you are right," Lucy went along with it, "but until we know for sure, we _can't_ let our guard down, or sit back and do nothing."

"Fine, but what _can_ we do then?" he asked, looking expectedly from Lucy to Wyatt.

"Well," Lucy said, gnawing on her lower lip in concentration. "I think at this point there is only one thing left for us to do," she finally came to a conclusion and looked over at Wyatt too.

It took Wyatt a moment to understand what she was referring to, but then he groaned heavily. "Great," he said, "so basically everything depends on finding Flynn now?"

"Yes, and speaking of which, what have your _friends_ found out so far?" Lucy probed.

"Honestly? A grand total of nothing," he admitted in defeat. "But it has only been a couple of hours, I'm sure someone is going to find something eventually."

"Eventually? That sounds promising!" Rufus said sarcastically. "And what are we supposed to do in the meantime, while you wait for them to call you back?"

"We stick to the original plan of course," Wyatt shrugged, "Lucy continues with the research, and you are going to Mason Industries tomorrow to ask Mason for a job," he said decidedly. "We need access to this new time-machine that they are building right now. Not only to stop Flynn, in case he still has the mothership, but also so that we are at an advantage, if he doesn't, because I'm sure he would try to steal this time-machine as well, if he gets the chance. And then everything would start anew, except that this time around we wouldn't be able to follow him."

Both Rufus and Lucy didn't know what to say to this dark scenario, and as they still had a couple of hours of daylight left, they all decided to continue with the research together.

xxx

Lucy couldn't concentrate, every so often she had to glance over to Wyatt, who was busy keeping Florence at a distance by trying to get her occupied with different kinds of toys, but without success. The little girl simply was more interested in using him as her personal climbing facility. Even when he gave in and sat her down on his lap, she wouldn't stay still. First she tried to help him with the research by turning over the pages of the book, he was reading, but soon she got bored again, and made an attempt to climb on his shoulders instead.

Watching this endearing display right in front of her, made Lucy wonder not for the first time, what their live had been like in this timeline. Had they been happy?

One thing she was sure of though, he could deny it all he wanted, but Wyatt would be a great father. If he really wasn't interested in that little girl, like he claimed, then he wouldn't let her do all of this. She knew it was still awkward for him, she knew that because she felt the same way, but she could see the change in his behaviour, and the way he looked at her.

This was everything she had ever hoped for, and it hurt that all of this didn't truly belong to her, but this other version of her. It was not fair, why did she have to suffer through all the crap that came along with the time-travel, whereas this other Lucy got to be this lucky without further ado?

It sucked, big time. She always had tried to please others, especially her mother, to make her proud, and to be loved. And what has that ever done for her. Nothing!

Lucy gulped dryly when she fully realised this. Maybe it was finally time to think about she wanted, to put her dreams and wishes first.

The only problem was that what she really wanted right now was Wyatt, and she could hardly force him to fall in love with her.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Wyatt asked concerned, startling her out of her thoughts as he seemingly appeared out of thin air right next to her.

"What? Yah! I'm fine, just a lot on my mind right now," she said, hoping that he wouldn't notice the heat on her cheeks, a sure indication that she must be blushing furiously.

To gloss over her embarrassment, she took Florence into her arms when the little girl reached out for her, trying to hide her flaming face behind the child.

"No kidding," he chuckled. "You were pretty much zoned out there for a moment. Where did you go?" he asked curious, scrutinising her.

If possible, Lucy blushed even deeper. There was no way she was going to tell him what she had been thinking about.

Luckily, Wyatt didn't try to push for an answer as he continued, "Anyway, how do you feel about taking a break? Rufus suggested to order in pizza, if that is okay with you," he wanted to know.

"Yes, of course, fine with me," she said, getting up.

"That's good, because it should be here any minute," Wyatt grinned back at her over his shoulder as she followed him into the kitchen, where Rufus was already busy setting the table. And true to his words, the door bell rang just a few minutes later.

Lucy shortly debated if she should put Florence in her high chair, but then decided against it, and simply kept her on her lap when she sat down at the table.

"Are you for real now?" Wyatt asked Florence when he returned with the pizza. "How come you can stay still for Lucy all of a sudden?"

The little girl innocently looked up at him with big blue eyes, then gave him a toothy grin, before she snuggled even closer into Lucy's embrace.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" he accused the little girl, poking her gently into the stomach. "And I bet you are also happy that I'm going to have bruises all over tomorrow because of your climbing exercise!"

"Or maybe she is just hungry and tired now," Lucy defended the child, tenderly smoothing her hair back.

"Nah," Wyatt said with a twinkle in his eyes, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Then he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, right there where Lucy had brushed the hair back.

Lucy was a little taken aback by his sudden display of affection towards the little girl. But there was no way she was going to point this out to him, afraid that he would stop immediately if he was made aware of his actions.

x

Rufus watched them from across the table, smiling. He hadn't really been surprised when he first heard about their current relationship status. Actually, he had suspected that there was something going on between them for a while now, even though they seemed oblivious to it.

Of course this wasn't exactly how he had envisioned them to get together, if you could even call them that yet, but at least it was progress. He had witnessed too many longing glances from either of them when the other one wasn't looking, that he more than once had considered to play match-maker, but so far, he hadn't dared to mess with them, much too afraid that this could backfire, and they all would hate each other afterwards.

But now fate had intervened, or so it seemed, and he was happy for them. He just wished he could share all of this with Jiya. She would have loved this twist in their relationship, and they would have had a lot of fun teasing the both of them about the little circumstance that they were married, and even had a child together.

Then, out of nowhere, a nauseating thought hit him. What if Wyatt and Lucy came to their senses and didn't want to change things any longer? As far as he could tell, they were much better off in this timeline than they had ever been in their own, even before they became time-travellers.

Sure, at first the thought that their time-travelling days were over had appealed to him greatly, but now he realised what that would truly mean for him.

Rufus swallowed hard. Suddenly he knew for a fact that he would never see _his_ Jiya again. As soon as Lucy and Wyatt realised what they had here, they wouldn't want go back to their previous lives, he was certain of it. How could they?

Having lost his appetite, he put the slice of pizza, he was about to eat, back onto his plate and cleared his throat. "Listen guys, don't you think we should call it a day?" he interrupted their cosy, little family moment. "I've literally gone through every piece of history that I've ever heard of, which is more than I can stomach by the way, and I still haven't found anything useful."

"Me neither," Wyatt admitted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I'm sorry, this was a stupid idea."

"No it wasn't," Lucy objected. "If we hadn't done this, we never would have found out that, as far as we can tell, the history got restored to its origin."

"Yeah, but everything else was a waste of time," he pointed out.

"A waste of time?" Lucy huffed indignantly. "You are aware that I used to earn my living doing this, don't you? And you two might have actually learned something new today, so I definitely wouldn't call this a waste of time."

Wyatt narrowed his eyes on her. "Sometimes I think you try to misunderstand me on purpose," he accused her. "You know perfectly well that I didn't mean it like that."

"Anyway," she said, ignoring his complaint. "You two can call it a day if you want, but there is something else I want to check out first before I turn in for the night."

"Such as?" Wyatt inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Instead of answering him, Lucy only grinned mysteriously, and grabbed another slice of the pizza.

xxx

"Lucy? Are you coming?" Wyatt asked, poking his head into the office. Right after dinner, Lucy had returned to their research to do her _quick_ check-up. But that had been over an hour ago and Rufus was long gone by now.

For some reason, Rufus had been in a very foul mood ever since they had sat down to eat, and Wyatt hadn't had any success finding out what was bothering him.

In the end he had let it go, deciding that Rufus also had the right to be moody once in a while, and so they had said their good byes shortly after, leaving Wyatt to take care of the dishes on his own.

"Yes, in a minute!" Lucy said, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Okay… I'll just, uhm," Wyatt said, pointing over his shoulder, but Lucy was already deeply immerged into her work again and wasn't paying attention to him any longer, so he simply left. He was sure that she would tell him later what was so captivating.

x

How he had ended up taking care of Florence once more was beyond him, but for some reason it was upon him again to change her diaper and getting her ready for bed.

She had already been pretty much asleep by the time they had finished dinner, so he had thought, that it wouldn't take very long to get her to bed, but as soon as he had cleaned her up and struggled to put her night clothes on, Florence was wide awake again, scrutinizing his every move.

"Don't look at me like this," he said, finally having managed to get all her extremities through their intended openings. "I told you I would suck at this."

Expectantly, he waited for her trademark answer, but this time she chose to stay quiet. "Great," he muttered under his breath, picking her up from the changing table. "Now you also have to agree with me all of a sudden."

"Story daddy!" she demanded instead, pointing over his shoulder at something behind him. Puzzled, he whirled around to see what she was talking about.

"Oh, you can't be serious," he groaned when he spotted the books on the little girl's sideboard. He couldn't believe it, all those insane changes that didn't make any sense to him, and here he was, facing a whole shelf of biographies for children. What were the odds? Apparently the Lucy from this timeline hadn't been that different from his Lucy after all. That thought was just as terrifying as it was comforting to him.

He sighed deeply. "Aren't you a bit too young for this kind of stories?" he asked hopeful.

"No," she answered at once, making him wonder if she understood more than he he gave her credit for, which was another terrifying thought. From now on he had to be more careful what he was telling her.

"Like mother, like daughter," he sighed in defeat. "Okay fine, what do you want to hear? Churchill? Or Einstein?" he asked, pointing at each book in question as he said the names, remembering that those were the exact books Lucy had mentioned back in 1754. Why he was able to remember this was lost to him though.

"No? Okay, what else do we have?"

"Da!" she said then, leaning forward to grab one of the books near the end of the row.

"Jefferson, really?" Wyatt cried out when he picked it up and turned it over to inspect the cover. "I'm not reading this to you kid! I know, he seems so nice, and his accomplishments are beyond any doubts, but let me tell you, that guy was a real … never mind, but the less you hear about him, the better," he growled. "Honestly, I have no idea how that guy managed to win the election, it certainly wasn't his illustrious personality."

x

It was already past 10 pm when he sat down in the rocking chair with Florence on his lap to read to her. How she was still able to be so alert mystified him, especially since she definitely had been dead tired just about an hour ago.

Wyatt, on the other hand, could have dozed off right after the opening paragraph, and by the end of the page, he was already fighting against the first of many more microsleeps to come.

At some point though, they both must have fallen asleep, because when Wyatt jerked awake the next time, he felt groggy and disorientated. And a look at his watch told him that it was way past midnight now.

He tiredly rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked down at the sleeping child in his arms. He couldn't help but smile at the sight and for a moment he actually wished she was his. Then he sighed deeply, stood up, and put her down in her bed, hoping that she wouldn't wake up again as he tucked her in.

xxx

"Lucy?" he called out quietly, when he returned to the living room. He was certain that she hadn't gone to bed yet, as she most likely would have checked up on him and Florence first, so he expected to find her fast asleep on the sofa in front of the TV instead.

"In here!" he heard her answer coming from the office.

"What the … Are you insane?" he said at once when he walked in. "I appreciate that you are taking this so seriously, but I never meant for you to work yourself to death when I said we should do some research," he clarified, feeling guilty as he assumed that she was doing this for his sake.

"Um, actually, I gave up on the research hours ago," Lucy admitted sheepishly.

Wyatt frowned, "okay, but then what are you still doing here?"

"I have to prepare my lesson for tomorrow," she said, shrugging.

"You what?" He stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

"I said I have to prepare for my lesson tomorrow," Lucy repeated.

"Yes, I heard you the first time, but why?"

"Because it is my job, Wyatt, I'm a college professor, which means I have to give lessons from time to time in addition to my own studies."

"No, your job is it to make sure that Flynn and Rittenhouse don't mess up history again," Wyatt pointed out. "Besides, who says you still even are a professor? Things have changed around here, in case you haven't noticed. And do I also have to remind you that you now have a child to take care of?"

"That child also has a father who can take care of her," Lucy shot up.

"That is _not_ what how I meant it, and you know it!" Wyatt caught himself saying again. She truly was doing this on purpose. He was almost sure about that now.

Lucy sighed. "Look Wyatt, I know what my priorities are at the moment, but when I came back here earlier, I found this email from a colleague of mine, asking me if I could take over his class tomorrow and I simply couldn't resist. After all, this is what I love to do."

"Yeah, but …" he drew a chair over and sat down next to her, so that they would be on eye level. "Don't you think that is a bit much right now?" he asked worried, not for the first time baffled about her strength and determination. And to think that, when he first met her, he had been convinced that this assignment was doomed to fail because of her. How awfully wrong he had been back then. She had proven herself to him and their missions over and over again. In fact, they would have been totally lost without her.

He felt his heart swell and almost burst with pride of what she had become. He was so incredible lucky to have someone like her in his life. And even though she was only willing to be his friend, he wouldn't trade what he had with her for the world.

"Alright," he gave in before she could further defend her actions, "suit yourself. But please don't overdo it, okay? And try to get at least a little bit of sleep tonight."

"I will," Lucy promised, happily smiling at him. "Good night, Wyatt!"

"Good night!" He gave her one last lingering and longing look, then he hurriedly left the room, before his feelings would show on his face in its entirety.

xxx

Rufus was nervous. He hadn't been able to sleep the whole night. This was it, this part of the plan relied solely on him. If he was wrong about Mason, and he hadn't offered him a job after all, then they never would get unhindered access to his facility ever again. And that was exactly what they needed to get some much required answers.

He wasn't kidding himself though, there was another reason why returning here made him almost puke with excitement and anticipation. Jiya! True, this wasn't his Jiya, only some other version of her, but that actually made this task even more frightening to him as he didn't know what to expect from her.

Was this Jiya like her counterpart, the one he fell in love with? Did he even want her to be like her? Wouldn't it maybe easier if she was completely different? He didn't know, he was way too conflicted, and his feelings were all over the place. He had absolutely no idea what he wanted anymore, or how to behave around her.

Rufus sighed deeply, it didn't really matter though, he had to do this anyway, for the sake of the team. He just hoped that he and his emotions would get through this in one piece.

Unfortunately, entering Mason Industries wasn't as easy as it had been on Saturday. First of all, he arrived here awfully early, just because he hadn't been able to endure the wait at home any longer. And second of all, this time around he appeared as a stranger. Without the company car, the guards at the gate didn't mistake him for one of the staff and treated him accordingly.

They eyed him suspiciously when he came to a stop in front of the gate, most likely wondering what he was doing here at this ungodly hour. For a visitor, or at best a business partner, for whom they certainly took him, was it way too early.

Whatever they assumed though, didn't work in Rufus' favor, as it took him a great deal of effort to convince them that he knew Mason personally, and even longer to persuade them to give him a call. And if that wasn't enough already, they made him wait for another half an hour until they finally complied. Rufus was sure they did this on purpose to torture him, simply because they had the power to do so.

Fortunately, Rufus hadn't been wrong with his assessment that Mason wanted him back on the team, and he immediately ordered the guards to let him through.

Rufus couldn't help but giving them a smug grin when he at last passed the reprimanded guards. Dickheads, he thought, serves them right!

xxx

Wyatt was startled awake quite early too, when Lucy unceremoniously dumped a disgruntled looking Florence onto his chest.

"Jesus, Lucy," he cried out in protest.

"Sorry," she called over from the kitchen, where she was already busily bustling around.

Wyatt exhaled sharply through his nose. Somehow it had completely slipped his mind that he would have to look after Florence today when Lucy went off to work.

His eyes fixed on the child in front of him. "How come you are up and about already?" he asked her, brushing a few wild strands of her hair out of her face. "You had hardly more sleep than I had last night."

"She's been awake for more than an hour already," Lucy chipped in, walking over to them. "Coffee?" she added, holding a steaming mug out for him.

"Yes, thanks," Wyatt yawned, sitting up to take the mug from her before he placed it onto the coffee table next to the sofa so he wouldn't burn his fingers.

"In fact, she woke me up as well," Lucy continued. "Thankfully, I have to say, as I slept right through the alarm."

"Lucky you," Wyatt mumbled, picking up the mug again to take a small sip, but the coffee was still way too hot, so he quickly put it back down. As he had no chance of catching any more sleep now that he had to watch an irritatingly alert toddler again, he decided to get up as well. Carefully, he readjusted his hold on Florence and slowly got to his feet.

"So what is the deal then?" he asked, lazily walking over to the kitchen. "Are you gone all day or…" he trailed off when he became aware how chaotic Lucy was. She started to butter her toast in one corner of the kitchen, but before she even had finished it, she scurried over to the other side where her coffee was standing, then she hurried back to take a bite from the half-buttered toast. All in all, Wyatt had never seen Lucy so hectic and jittery at the same time.

"What? Oh … um, no. It's just this one lecture," Lucy suddenly replied after what seemed like hours. "It shouldn't take longer than a couple of hours."

Wyatt nodded in acknowledgement. "Why are you so nervous?" he asked then. "I mean, it's not your first time giving a lecture."

"Yeah but I haven't done this for so long now, and I'm not that familiar with today's subject matter, so …" She looked at him anxiously. "What if I mess it up?"

"You won't!" Wyatt said confident, walking over to her. "Florence and I are sure that you are going to be brilliant, Lucy."

When Florence heard her name, she looked up at him, and for a moment Wyatt was worried that she would disagree with him as usual, but she didn't say anything at all, and soon lost interest in their conversation again.

"How would you know?" Lucy asked, blushing at the compliment. "You've never seen me giving lectures."

"I wouldn't say that, you have given Rufus and me a lot of lectures during our missions," Wyatt objected.

"That is not the same, there is no way you can compare these situations with each other, besides, as far as I know, neither you or Rufus, have ever enjoyed me lecturing you."

"That's not true," Wyatt protested at once. "At least not anymore," he mumbled sheepishly, remembering that he truly didn't like getting lectures from her in the beginning.

He had been such an ass towards her, convinced that he didn't need any of her information to do his job, but then he had realised that it not only helped them, but that he rather enjoyed listening to her. It always fascinated him how much she knew about all these different time periods and historical events, without having to look them up first, and he loved watching her face light up when she could share her knowledge with them.

He sighed, changing his hold on Florence from left to right before his arm became numb. "I'm sorry, Lucy, if I've ever given you the impression that I don't appreciate your input, because I do! And so does Rufus, by the way. I think it is just that we kind of enjoy giving you a hard time sometimes, you know", he said, winking at her, "to keep you grounded."

"Keep me grounded?" Lucy repeated, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, well", he grinned cheekily at her, "we can't let you be the smarty-pants all the time, can we? You have to let Rufus shine too once in a while."

"I see," Lucy grinned back. "So what about you then?"

"Me? Nah! I'm fine living in the shadows."

"Yeah right!" she laughed now. "Remind me to remind you about your shadowy existence the next time with disagree on something."

"I will," he promised, still smiling. Then he suddenly got serious again. "I mean it though, Lucy, you are a good teacher. Rufus and I have learned a lot from you since all of this started. There might be situations when I could do without the history lessons, but I swear, most of the time I enjoy listening to whatever you have to tell us." He looked rather sheepish after this admission. "I thought you should know that."

For a moment, Lucy stared at him taken aback, not sure if she could believe him, but when he unwaveringly kept looking her into her eyes, she knew that he meant every word. "Thank you, Wyatt," she said. "Hearing you say that means a lot to me."

"You are welcome, ma'am," he replied softly with a twinkle in his eyes. He knew what was going to happen next. If possible, Wyatt's grin went even broader when he watched Lucy get all flustered, before she awkwardly avoiding his gaze. Never in a million years, he would have guessed that this simple act of politeness would have such an affect on someone, but with Lucy it worked every single time without fail, like a magic trick, and he immensely enjoyed pulling that trick on her occasionally.

Wyatt opened his mouth to call her out on it, when Lucy's eyes went big as saucers, and her face turned into a grimace of shock. "Oh dear god, is that really the time already?" she exclaimed surprised. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now."

"Oh yah, sure, I didn't mean to hold you up," he stammered, completely thrown out of kilter by her sudden retreat.

"Yeah, um, see you later," Lucy said awkwardly, then, unexpectedly, she bent over and kissed Florence good-bye on her cheek. When she drew back again, their eyes met over the child's head and for a brief moment, Wyatt actually thought she would kiss him as well. She was so close that he only had to lean forward a tiny little bit to overcome the distance between them. His eyes involuntarily went to her lips, and his breath hitched at the mere thought of kissing her.

But then the moment was gone, as was Lucy, and Wyatt wasn't sure if he not only had imagined it.

He sighed deeply, this whole situation, in which they were forced to live in, was going to be the death of him. Being so close to the person you have feelings for, and not being able to actually be with them, was sheer torture.

A low grumble, from a stomach that didn't belong to him, startled him out of his thoughts and made him aware, that he still had a child to take care of.

Great, he thought defeated, once again he was left alone with a toddler. He wondered if that was what their life was like in this timeline. Was he the one holding the fort while Lucy went off changing the world?

And if that was the case, would it bother him? He honestly didn't know, but having seen Lucy so nervously excited just now, had made him incredibly happy for her. But was that enough to permanently make him happy as well?

He looked down at Florence, and smiled. There was this strange feeling again, that made him believe that this other version of him might have been okay with how things went between them.

But first, breakfast!

xxx

Lucy fled the scene as fast as possible. She almost had kissed Wyatt! She felt her cheeks glow hot out of embarrassment. Had he noticed anything? She sincerely hoped not, but was almost sure that he had.

Lucy's thoughts went back to the conversation that they had before her shameful display. It had felt so good to hear him say that he appreciated her contribution to their missions. Especially in the beginning, she often had wondered if he cared at all. She still wasn't completely sure, if she could believe him, she had noticed him roll his eyes at her too many times. But now that she thought about it, she realised that those incidents had lessened over time, and were replaced by real interest for the history, they were dealing with.

Involuntarily, she now had to think about the playfulness, he had used to tease her. Had he been flirting with her? It almost had felt like he had. Lucy blushed again at the mere thought of it, but immediately dismissed this as wishful thinking on her side. He was just being Wyatt, a happy and carefree Wyatt for a change, but that was all there was to it. After all, she had seen him flirting with women before, and that had been different than their earlier exchange, hadn't it?

Suddenly Lucy wished that this nightmare would be over soon. Living with him wasn't working, at least not if she couldn't get her feelings under control. And it didn't seem like she could, if she was already throwing herself at him after only 2 days of living together. How embarrassing!

Now she was glad that she didn't have to spend the entire day with him, but was able to get away from this awkward situation for a few hours. And she was also grateful for the opportunity to get her mind distracted by finally doing the one thing again that made her feel confident, teaching.

xxx

Open-mouthed, Wyatt stared into the shockingly empty fridge. There was definitely no milk left, and by the looks of it, they were out of cereals as well.

"Sorry kid," he said to Florence, "For now you have to content yourself with toast," he concluded, looking dismayed at the only two slices that were left in the package. "And … well, let's see what we can put on top of it."

He spent a few minutes searching through the kitchen cabinets. "Nope, just the toast. Guess we have to do some shopping later."

Wyatt scraped the last of the butter from the paper and spread the two toast slices as best he could with it, before he handed them over to Florence. He himself reached for the half-buttered toast that Lucy hadn't finished. It was a pathetic excuse for a breakfast, but it had to do for now.

Florence didn't seem to mind though, she happily munched her almost dry toast without complaining, and Wyatt hoped that she simply wasn't very picky with her food, and not that she was so hungry at this point that she would eat about anything.

Somewhat sobered, Wyatt watched her eat in silence. He had no illusions about their parenting skills, they sucked, and it would be a miracle if they were able to keep the kid alive till the end of the week.

xxx

Laden with two full bags of shopping goods in one arm, and a cranky toddler in the other, Wyatt arrived back home two hours later. Lucy had taken the car, so he had to walk to the grocery store, which luckily wasn't that far away. Or so he had thought until he suddenly had both his arms full.

Exhausted, he first let go of the shopping bags, then put Florence down on the carpet, silently praying that she would be able to entertain herself with her toys for a while so that he had time to store the groceries away. He knew that she was tired, and that he would have to lay her down for a nap soon, but first he had to take care of his shopping, or at least of the frozen goods.

He had no luck though, Florence didn't even think of trying to play, and tiredly followed him into the kitchen. Sighing deeply, Wyatt picked her back up, and started to put the groceries away one-handed.

He was almost finished when the door bell rang.

"Who could that be?" he wondered aloud, walking towards the door. "I for one wouldn't be surprised if Lucy has forgotten her keys this morning?" he informed Florence, grinning, but Florence was way too fidgety to pay attention. She tiredly rubbed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

Wyatt soothingly rubbed her back, then opened the door. "Yes?" he asked the woman that was standing in front of it.

"Oh, you are back," she said coldly, and squeezed past him into the house. "Where is Lucy?"

"Not here," Wyatt said slowly, watching after her when she walked towards the kitchen as if she owned the place.

"That is not exactly the answer to my question, is it?" she reprimanded him sternly, stopping shortly in her tracks to glare back at him over her shoulder.

Wyatt stared at her perplexed, still standing in the open door, unable to come up with a suitable retort.

"So where have you been this time?" she inquired, but Wyatt didn't have the impression that she actually wanted to hear an answer from him. Not that he could have given her one anyway. "Another one of your "secret" missions?"

The way she said it made him believe that she was convinced that he had been lying about something.

"Honestly, I don't understand why Lucy is willing to put up with all of this," she huffed. Then she fixed her eyes on him again. "Are you cheating on her?" she asked blatantly.

"I … what?" he croaked, not having expected this question at all. "Of course not."

She gave an unbelieving snort and raised her eyebrows at him, making Wyatt feel guilty of a crime he hadn't even committed. Or had he? Wyatt swallowed dryly, the thought alone was unthinkable to him. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but before even one word came out, he was interrupted.

"WYATT! YOU ARE BACK!" another voice exclaimed behind him, sounding happily excited.

He didn't even have the time to turn around completely, to see who that voice belonged to, when he was already caught in a tight embrace. He was about to protest, to prevent that the little girl in his arms would be crushed, but as sudden as the embrace had occurred, it was already over again, revealing a teenage girl of about 15 or maybe 16.

"Yeah, uh, hi," he stammered, wondering briefly how much of a fool he would make of himself, if he asked her who she was.

But to his surprise, his daughter of all people saved him from such a fate, as she reached out for the girl and declared loudly, "AMY!"


	9. Star Wars vs Star Trek

**9. _Star Wars_ vs. _Star Trek_**

Perplexed, Wyatt stared at the unfamiliar girl in front of him that, seemingly out of nowhere, had appeared behind him. Almost automatically, he handed Florence over to her, still not fully comprehending what was happening and what it could mean for all of them, especially for Lucy.

It didn't make sense. He knew that Amy was a great deal younger than Lucy, but surely not _that_ young! Unless he got everything Lucy had ever told him about her sister wrong, this Amy was definitely different.

While the girl was distracted by Florence, Wyatt studied her intently, trying to recall the woman in Lucy's locket to compare her with this new Amy. Did they even resemble one another? He couldn't say for sure, so for now he was going to accept this new development as fact, until proven otherwise.

"Hi there Florence, how are you doing?" the girl said affectionately, hugging the child closely.

Wyatt cleared his throat, "Good to see you, uhm, Amy."

"Amy?" asked the girl, narrowing her eyes at him in confusion.

"Yeah, well, uh," Wyatt stammered awkwardly before he swallowed hard. How embarrassing. This is what he got for listening to a toddler. Or maybe he misheard her? Perhaps Florence had called her differently and he just assumed that she had said Amy, because he wanted this to be her? Or Florence simply called everyone Amy, like she answered almost every question with "no".

"Since when do you call me Amy?" the girl wanted to know, eyeing him suspiciously. "I'm not doing you any kind of impertinent favour, you got that? So stop sweet-talking me."

Now Wyatt was not even embarrassed but also rather confused. This definitely wasn't the reaction he had expected. Something like ' _Who is Amy?_ ' perhaps, or an offended ' _My name is …_ ', but not this kind of counter-attack.

"Okay," he said slowly to mask his insecurity. "What should I call you then?"

"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes at him, then she turned to Florence, "Your dad thinks he is oh so funny, but believe me, he is not."

"No," Florence agreed seriously, shaking her head no to accentuate her statement.

Wyatt frowned at both of them, undecided if he should be amused or offended, a little bit of both probably. But at least he was quite certain now that this was indeed Amy, even though he never seemed to call her that for some reason, otherwise she most likely would have handled the situation differently.

"Oh dear god," the voice of the woman, that Wyatt now assumed was Lucy's mother, sounded from the kitchen, interrupting them. "What have you done to this place?"

Amy groaned loudly. "Here we go," she mumbled, following her mother further into the house. Irritated, Wyatt blinked after her. In this very short moment she had reminded him so much of Lucy that it was almost scary. Lucy always had the exact same look on her face, whenever he did something to annoy her, voluntarily or involuntarily, and Wyatt couldn't help but smirk smugly when that thought crossed his mind.

But the smirk disappeared just as fast as it had appeared when Wyatt too reached the kitchen. Lucy's mother was walking around the room, inspecting thoroughly every corner, and even let her fingers roam over the counters, to check them for dirt.

"You can't be serious about raising a child among all this filth!" she lectured him as soon as he entered.

"What filth?" Wyatt gave the room a quick once over. Granted, it wasn't spick and span, but it didn't look that bad either. A little untidy perhaps, but mostly thanks to groceries that were still waiting on the counter to be put away, and the toys scattered all over the floor.

She didn't reward him with an answer, but simply continued to examine her surroundings.

Totally baffled by her behaviour, Wyatt turned around to look at Amy, but she only rolled her eyes again, indicating that she too didn't approve of her mother's demeanor.

"If I had known that you would turn my house into a dump, I never would have transferred it to you," she stated suddenly, fixing her eyes on him accusingly.

"Oh please," Amy snorted. "This is hardly a dump, besides you wanted to get rid of the house for quite some time, and you were happy when Lucy and Wyatt offered to buy it, saving you that way from the effort to grapple with the realtors."

"You are sleeping on the sofa, I see," Mrs Preston remarked, completely ignoring her daughter's input. "Not surprising, I guess."

"Yeah, but that's not what…" Wyatt tried to defend himself, but Carol didn't let him finish.

"Don't waste your breath," she cut him short. "Do you honestly think I don't know what is going on here?"

"Well, no …" Wyatt mumbled under his breath, wondering what she was talking about. Had other-him slept on the sofa as well? It wasn't the first time today that Carol indicated that he and Lucy had marital problems and just the mere thought of this being true repulsed him, and it also made him feel incredible guilty even though _he_ hadn't done anything to feel guilty about.

"Daddy!" Florence called out, effectively pulling him from his thoughts. Wyatt went over to Amy and took his daughter out of her arms again.

"So she is still not speaking properly," Mrs Preston remarked at once, nodding towards Florence. "Let me guess, you are not doing the exercises with her that I recommended, do you?"

"The exercises?" Wyatt repeated confused, screwing his face up in disgust, and immediately hugged the little girl a bit closer to his chest without really noticing it.

"Seriously Wyatt? How many times do I have to tell you that a child's mind needs constant stimulation? When Lucy was her age, she …,"

"Yes mom, we know," Amy interrupted her impatiently. "When Lucy was her age, she could already debate her point of view flawlessly."

"Not that she was ever allowed to have her _own_ point of view," she added so quietly that only Wyatt could hear her.

"Well yes, Lucy has always been very exceptional," Mrs Preston continued proudly, and for once Wyatt had to agree with her. "Too bad that can't be said about everyone."

She might not have explicit said it, but Wyatt was sure she meant him with this comment.

It stung hearing this from Lucy's mother, but it didn't really surprise him, if he was honest with himself. Deep down, he had always known that he wasn't good enough for Lucy. That she deserved better.

Carol raised her hands in defeat. "Fine!" she said. "If you don't care about your child's development, that's your business, but is it really too much to ask that you at least spend some time with her once in a while?"

"Excuse me?" Wyatt said indignant, biting back a nasty reply. What the hell was she talking about now?

"Leaving a child unintended for long periods of time is definitely not acceptable."

"I would never do that!" Wyatt flared up, these accusations were getting absurd, and it was time for him to set her straight. "As you can see, I'm right here, aren't I? Just like I have been ever since I found out about her."

Granted, the last part was exaggerating as he had no clue what other-him had done before he got replaced, but as far as Wyatt was concerned, it was true, he had been there for Florence ever since Saturday.

"Oh really? Lucy tells me otherwise, you know?" Mrs Preston gloated, not the least bit impressed by his statement.

"Does she now?" Wyatt asked hoarsely, feeling more and more uncomfortable with every passing minute. He despised the direction this conversation was taking. He didn't want to hear from Lucy's mother, of all people, that he had screwed up his relationship with her daughter.

But even worse were her accusations that he was a failure as a father. It was one thing if _he_ wasn't doing a good job, since he wasn't really a father, but that this other version of him was a dead loss as well, shocked him to the core and made him nauseated.

"Yes, she was complaining that you rather go out with your friends to a football game, or have drinks…,"

"She did not…," Amy started to protest, but was immediately cut off by her mother, "Or what other trivial things you do with your time," she continued, gingerly picking up one of the sport magazines, that were still lying on the coffee table, using only the tips of her index finger and her thumb as if she was forced to touch something very dirty.

Once again she didn't address it openly, but the disgusted look on her face said everything. She clearly didn't approve of his choice of reading material, or rather him as a person altogether.

Anxious, Wyatt turned his gaze to Amy again, seeking solace in the opinion of a teenage girl. It was pathetic, he knew that, but he also had the feeling that getting the approval of Lucy's little sister had more meaning than what her mother thought of him.

And to his immense relieve, Amy rolled with her eyes again and shook her head no, signalling that whatever her mother was accusing him of wasn't true, or at least not entirely true.

It was strange, but having Amy on his side immediately calmed him down significantly. With everything he knew about Carol, he rather put his faith in Amy. After all, even though he knew that Lucy loved her mother, she wouldn't have thought twice to risk losing her forever if that meant getting her sister back again. And that had to count for something, hadn't it?

xxx

They didn't stay long, maybe half an hour, but to Wyatt it felt like they have been there for an eternity.

He still couldn't believe that woman's behaviour towards him. Of course he was aware that he probably wasn't the ideal match for Lucy, especially in her mother's eyes, but they were supposed to be married, for heaven's sake! So if he wasn't a total screw-up, and if he interpreted Amy's opinion about him correctly he didn't seem to be, then what was her problem?

Could it be that she was simply overprotective? She did seem to care a great deal about Lucy and her well-being, and in a strange and twisted way, about Florence too. So maybe if she got to know him better, then she would realise that he cared very deeply about Lucy as well, and that he would never do anything to hurt her intentional.

That conclusion pacified him a little. He would tame the dragon eventually, he swore to himself, or at least try in earnest to get along with her, if only for Lucy.

Then his thoughts drifted back to the other person that he met today for the first time and his mood immediately improved considerable. Wyatt couldn't wait to tell Lucy about Amy. She would be ecstatic, and maybe, if he was really lucky, she would hug him, or even kiss his cheek or something.

Suddenly high-spirited, he started to tickle Florence until she shouted with glee. "So what do you think? How should we tell her?" he asked the little girl excited, after she had calmed down again. "I mean we could tell her straight away, but where would be the fun in that, uh? No, I think we should tease her a bit first," he grinned mischievously.

Florence looked sternly up at him after his suggestion, scrunching up her tiny nose in obvious discomfort. Or maybe she was just doing it because of a little piece of fluff that got stuck there. Wyatt wasn't sure, but he hurried to explain his intentions further, while simultaneously removing the offending object from her nose.

"I know, okay? And believe me, I don't mean it like that, I'm not cruel", he assured her, "I was only thinking about giving her a few hints here and there until she figures it out on her own, that's all, I promise."

"But we have to make sure that she won't be too disappointed that this Amy isn't exactly like her Amy used to be," he also added quickly. "Of course you wouldn't know that, but I'm pretty sure Lucy's Amy was older than this one." Wyatt paused a moment, reconsidering the whole situation. Eventually he asked, concerned, "You don't think Lucy will be devastated when she meets her, do you?"

"No!" Florence said confidently, even though she didn't really seem to pay attention to anything he was blabbering about. But Wyatt didn't care, he got the answer he was hoping for.

"I think you are right," he said relieved. "She probably will be too happy to see Amy again that she won't mind at all that she is a little younger. Besides, I think this Amy is awesome."

"Your grandmother on the other hand, well, she is a real piece of work," he grimaced grimly.

xxx

Rufus felt like he literally went back in time again. It hadn't even been that long ago that Connor Mason had asked him to figure out this exact same algorithm. The only difference was that it had taken him weeks the last time around, whereas now he remembered precisely _how_ to solve it. The only problem was that he wasn't sure if he also was _supposed to_ solve it.

Their only concern had been to get him back to Mason Industries to find out more about their timeline, but they had never discussed if he should actually help them build the time-machine again.

His partaking or not partaking could both have unpredictable consequences that might, or might not, turn out to be catastrophic. He needed to discuss this thoroughly with Lucy and Wyatt before he should proceed, but unfortunately he also had to come up with some significant results soon, or Mason might not want to hire him after all.

Even though Connor had been eager to get him back, and had promised to pull some strings to free Rufus from his current job, he also had made it clear that this assignment was some kind of test, and the results would determine which team he would be allotted to, if at all.

So in the end, Rufus chose some kind of middle course, outlining enough progress to make clear that he knew what he was doing, but never fully solving any of the present equations. He even deliberately included a few errors, to be on the safe side.

A couple of hours in, his surroundings had completely faded out of existence. His sole focus was on the task at hand. He never would have thought that trying _not_ to crack a problem was just as hard as actually solving it.

"Hey, creep!" a very familiar voice said behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. "Are the rumors true? Are you part of the team now?"

"I … um … hi …, I mean, yes," Rufus stammered, turning around in his seat, surprised by her sudden appearance.

"You are weird," Jiya said, giving him a bewildered, but also fascinated look. "And I sincerely hope that you are a better engineer than talker." Amused, she shook her head at his strange behaviour, but apparently decided to leave him be for now.

Dismayed, Rufus watched her go. What was wrong with him, for heaven's sake? This was Jiya, he knew her, why wasn't he able to talk to her? This was getting ridiculous. He had to do something, and he had to do it now.

"Hey Jiya!" he quickly called after her before he could lose his nerves again. Smiling, she turned back around and looked at him expectantly.

"You know that we are never going to be friends, right?" he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. He grinned broadly at her, happily awaiting her reaction. But soon he realised how that must have sounded to her, as witnessed the smile drop from her face with warp speed.

"Okay," she said taken aback and disappointed. "Good to know, I guess."

"Uhm, it's, well, you know, it's b-because you … you are Star Trek and I'm Star Wars," Rufus stammered nervously, trying to fix the damage, albeit he already knew that it was fruitless. Apparently his comment didn't have the same effect as it had the last time.

"What?" she asked in annoyed disbelief. "Seriously? What is wrong with you?"

"It's just that … come on you know, Star Trek and Star Wars, they don't go well together," Rufus continued to talk himself into trouble.

"You are insane!" she cried out, sounding disgusted, and quickly started to walk away. But before she disappeared entirely, she wheeled around and stormed back. "And how do you even know that I'm into Star Trek? Are you spying on me?"

"I … um…" Lost for words, Rufus desperately tried to come up with a convincing explanation.

"Oh great, you are back to the stammering," she huffed, and then she was gone for good, leaving a distraught Rufus behind.

xxx

The rest of the morning luckily went by uneventful. He spotted Jiya a few times across the hall, but to his relieve, they didn't talk again. He would try again tomorrow, Rufus vowed to himself, or maybe the day after that, but certainly before the end of the week.

As previously announced, Mason ordered Rufus into his office shortly after lunch to have a look at his work.

"And you did all of this just this morning?" Mason asked astounded. "All by yourself?"

"Yeah, well," Rufus choked, feeling immensely guilty that he had to lie to Connor, but telling him that he had seen these equations before, and that he was merely recalling the results by memory, would rightly cause suspicions.

"That is very impressive, Rufus, I knew you were brilliant, but this … amazing."

Rufus blushed furiously. "It's nothing, really, just some ideas I've been toying around with," he said, playing his 'achievements' down, hoping that Connor would stop thinking that he was some kind of genius. Unfortunately his attempt at modesty had the exact opposite effect.

"Rufus, if you call that nothing, then I really want to see what you can accomplish when I give you a really complex puzzle to solve," Connor praised him excitedly.

And before Rufus had any chance to protest, Mason pushed a button on his intercom and ordered his assistant, "Could you please send Jiya in?"

"What? No! Please don't!" Rufus objected at once.

Mason frowned at him. "What is it? Don't you like Jiya?"

"I do, but it's…"

"Good! Because the last thing I need around here is trouble between co-workers. We are trying to achieve great things here, Rufus, which means that I expect everyone who works for me to do their best and to share their ideas and findings with the others, so that they can pick up on that and come up with great ideas of their own."

"Yes, I know, and I respect that," Rufus hurried to say. "It's just that Jiya and I got off on the wrong foot, so to speak, that is all, and for now it might be better if we don't work together."

"I see," Connor said, narrowing his eyes on Rufus. "I disagree though. I think that is even more reason to team you up."

"Yeah, but…," Rufus stammered helpless. Of course Connor would say that, Rufus realised, he should have known.

"You wanted to see me Mason?" Jiya interrupted them, poking her head through the door.

"Ah there you are, Jiya," Mason greeted her happily while Rufus groaned inwardly. "Come in, I want you to introduce Rufus to your work."

"My work? Why?" she asked perplexed, looking less than thrilled by the prospect. "Mason, you know that I best work alone. I'm happy to share any significant results with whoever you think should see it, but until then I'd rather not confide in anyone."

"I know that, but I think Rufus here could be a real help for you," Connor argued.

"You are kidding, right?" she blurted out, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "How is he supposed to help me, if he can't even speak to me?" she continued angrily. "Besides, have I ever disappointed you, Connor? Or not come through in time with the tasks you assigned to me?"

"Of course not, Jiya, that's not what this is about…"

"Then why would you force him on me?" she interrupted him heatedly.

"JIYA! That is enough. Nothing is decided yet," Connor appeased her. "For now I only want you to show Rufus what you have been working on lately, and then we take it from there."

"Fine!" Jiya groaned, giving in. "I'll be right back."

Rufus had silently watched the exchange between Mason and Jiya with mixed feelings. He didn't blame her for not wanting to work with him. So far he had done nothing to prove himself worthy of her trust in his abilities as an engineer. Or a respectable colleague for that matter. But that didn't change the fact that it hurt to be so blatantly rejected by her, and that also in front of Connor Mason.

Rufus was just contemplating the possibility of Jiya having used the time to make a run for it, when the door opened again, and she came back in. Under her right arm she was carrying a laptop, and with the other, she pressed several stacks of files and loose papers, filled with notes and sketches, against her upper body.

Wordlessly, she set everything up on Mason's desk, and without giving him more than a fleeting glimpse, she began her presentation. "So basically what I do is run tests on various algorithms and equations provided to me from the different engineering teams, to check them for suitability or … well … for errors," she concisely explained her work to him. She didn't have to do this though, he already knew everything about it. It was exactly what she, or better they, had been doing in the other timeline.

"I don't know how familiar you are with the work we are doing here," Jiya said, glancing over to Mason to figure out how much he had told Rufus about their project. And to her astonishment, Mason shook his head no, indicating that he hadn't informed Rufus yet. "Anyway," she continued, showing him a few diagrams, "these are the most promising results to date. I don't want to jinx it," she said excited, "but I think this could be a major breakthrough. All the tests I have run so far went rather smoothly," she finished proudly, and for a moment it was like there never had been any awkwardness between them.

But of course he immediately had to blow it, and he didn't even realise it, until it was too late. "This isn't right," Rufus said entirely fixed at the equations in front of him. He couldn't recall anymore what had been wrong with them, because he hadn't been assigned to that particular team, but he remembered that it had taken them months and many failed attempts to figure it out. He also remembered how excited they all had been about this "major breakthrough", before they eventually discovered the flaws, and the huge disappointment after they did.

"Why do you think that?" Mason asked Rufus curiously. "My leading engineering team has ensured me that this is the way to do things."

"Well, they are wrong!" Rufus insisted unblinking.

"Is that your _expertly_ opinion?" Jiya taunted, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a dismissive way.

Confused, Rufus frowned at her suddenly renewed hostility towards him, but he didn't dare to say anything else.

"You don't seem to have a lot of faith in Rufus' abilities," Connor remarked surprised.

"Is that really surprising?" Jiya scoffed. "I've hardly heard him speak a complete sentence since he is here, and certainly nothing he said so far has been very enlightening."

Annoyed, Connor Mason rolled his eyes. "Give it a rest, Jiya!" he ordered harshly. "The least you could do is hear Rufus out."

Jiya shook her head no, gathering up her papers and files. "I'm sorry, Mason, but this is not going to work."

"Too bad", Connor said determined, "because I've decided to let the both of you figure this out together."

"You can't be serious," Jiya protested at once. "I've told you, I work best on my own, and you agreed on this when you hired me."

"Yes, I know, but not this time I'm afraid."

"Connor", Jiya tried again to reason with him more forcefully, "making us work together is deemed to be doomed."

"Oh really? And why is that?" Connor asked amused.

"It's simple", she shrugged nonchalantly, "cause he is Star Wars and I'm Star Trek."

For a moment Connor looked at her dumbfounded, then he burst into a hearty laugh, wiping tears out of the corner of his eyes.

xxx

Exhausted, but incredible happy and satisfied, Lucy arrived back home. It had been so great to finally stand in front of a class again, and for once, only talking about history instead of living through it, had been a very welcoming change too.

But now she was also looking forward to get back to Wyatt and Florence. It almost scared her a little bit how attached she had become to the little girl already, and how much she enjoyed having Wyatt around all the time. This is what home must feel like, Lucy thought wistful, trying to remember the last time she had felt like that. It probably had been before her mother became ill. Of course she and Amy had tried to build their own small family, but the presumable death of their mother had always been present, subduing their mood.

Lucy almost had a spring in her step as she eagerly approached the house. But her high spirits were immediately dampened when she opened the door and was yet again greeted by loud screaming. Instantly, she felt guilty that she had left Wyatt alone to deal with this on his own.

But this feeling was soon replaced by fear when she walked into the living room and found it in an utterly state of chaos. Toys, magazines, the sofa cushions, and Wyatt's bedding were scattered all over the floor, several drawers stood open, and even the furniture seemed to have been moved. And right in the middle of this chaos, all by herself, was Florence, crying bitterly, the front of her shirt covered with dark red stains.

Lucy gasped in shock, letting go of her bag and the jacket, that was draped over her arm, and hurried towards her. When Florence spotted Lucy, she promptly reached her arms out, seeking solace in her mother's embrace.

"Wyatt?" Lucy shouted in panic, picking up the crying child, and started frantically checking her for injuries, but luckily couldn't find any.

"Yes? I'm here!" he replied at once, emerging from behind the sofa.

Lucy blinked at him surprised. "What are you doing?" she demanded to know, the scene in front of her still upsetting her.

"I … uhm," he started, rubbing the back of his head in obvious discomfort, while he sheepishly looked around the room.

"Oh my god, you haven't been unconscious, have you?" Lucy cried out alarmed, misinterpreting the whole situation.

"What?" he replied off-guard. "No! Why would you even think that?"

"Well, what else am I supposed to think?" she retorted, gesturing at the chaos around them. "The room looks like we've been robbed."

"Oh, uhm, no, actually, your mom and …" he stopped himself just in time before he let it slip that Amy had been here as well, he still wanted to tell her that in a more fitting moment and definitely not when they had to take care of a crying toddler.

"My mom?" Lucy asked hoarsely, before he had time to continue with his story anyhow. "Did you just say my mom?"

"Eh, yes, she was here earlier and …"

"She was here?" Lucy interrupted him again. "Are you saying she is alive?"

"Oh yeah, very much so," Wyatt said with a cringe, remembering their encounter. "Anyway, she bought Florence this annoying toy … and I kind of lost it," he explained. "She was driving me crazy with it, Which I'm sure was your mother's intention by the way, and when I took it away from her so that I could feed and change her, hell broke lose. She has been crying ever since and I can't find that damn thing anywhere."

"Is that right?" Lucy asked the grief-stricken child, kissing her cheek tenderly. "Daddy lost your toy? I'm sure he didn't mean it," she said soothingly.

Wyatt looked at her flabbergasted. "Is that honestly how you talk to her?" he asked appalled.

"Why? What is wrong with it?" Lucy asked puzzled.

"I don't know, it is just so irritating when you talk about me as if I'm not even in the room," Wyatt frowned. "And would you please stop referring to me as daddy in front of her?"

"What?" Lucy was taken aback. "What else should I call you? In this timeline you are her daddy."

"Yes I know, she keeps reminding of the fact all the time by calling me that, although I have told her several times that I'm not him," Wyatt said accusingly.

"You what?" Lucy asked horrified. "How can you say something like that to her?"

Wyatt shrugged, "it's the truth. And it's not like she understands it anyway," he added as an afterthought.

"You don't know that," Lucy insisted, "or can you honestly say that you have any idea what she understands at her age, and what she doesn't? Because for that, you first would have to _know_ her exact age."

"No, but I'm sure she doesn't like us fighting," Wyatt said, pointing at Florence's disturbed face, still unsure if the situation required her to start crying all over again, or not.

Lucy groaned in frustration, but quickly continued to sooth the unsettled child in her arms. "This conversation is _not_ over, Wyatt," she mouthed determined over Florence head.

"Fine, whatever," he sighed, not at all in the mood to have another argument with her, especially not about this forced parenthood thing they had to deal with right now.

"What happened to her anyway?" Lucy wanted to know instead, tugging Florence's shirt. "Where do these stains come from?"

"Tomato sauce," Wyatt replied, shrugging. "When I went shopping earlier, I actually thought this would be a good idea, after all, kids are supposed to like it, aren't they? Anyway, turns out that it also is a guaranteed way to ruin their shirts."

"You went shopping?" Lucy asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, why is that so surprising?" Wyatt confirmed irritated.

"I … I don't know." She actually had no idea why this sounded so strange to her. Of course he would go shopping once in a while, she just had trouble picturing him doing such ordinary things.

And all of a sudden she became aware that she actually had no clue what Wyatt was like when he wasn't on duty. Sure, their missions had forced them into all kinds of situations, so it was easy to think that they knew each other very well, but none of them had ever truly experienced what the other one was like at home, when they could finally relax and switch off from their jumps into the past.

What was he doing in his free time? Did he have any annoying hobbies? What were his dreams and goals for his future? What was his favorite food? She was absolutely clueless.

"Lucy?" Wyatt asked concerned, waving a hand in front of her eyes to get her attention. "You okay?"

"Sorry, I just…" But before she could even think of a plausible explanation why she had zoned out in his presence yet again, the door bell rang, saving her effectively from making up lame excuses.

"Could be Rufus," Wyatt speculated, still eying her sceptically.

Lucy immediately seized the opportunity to get away from his scrutinising look and went to let Rufus in.

Wyatt contemplated for a moment if he should resume his search for the missing toy, but then decided against it, Florence had finally stopped crying and with a bit of luck, she soon would have forgotten all about it. So he started tidying up instead.

"What happened?" Rufus asked at once when he entered, looking around the living room. "Did you get robbed or something?"

"Very funny!" Wyatt retorted, picking up a few cushions and threw them back onto the sofa.

"No, I only left those two alone for a few hours," Lucy said, nodding in the general direction of Wyatt.

"Hey, it's not my fault that I can't find that damn thing," he defended himself. "Not that it is necessarily bad that it has disappeared in the first place," he muttered annoyed.

Bewildered, Rufus let his gaze wander from Wyatt to Lucy and back again, hoping for an explanation.

"So you keep saying, but you never specified what you are looking for anyway," Lucy reminded him.

"It's a doll of some sort, I think," Wyatt described the missing toy, "although it looks rather like a misshaped, multicoloured bear, if you ask me."

Lucy screwed up her face in obvious disgust.

"Yeah, I know, but that isn't even the worst about it. It also makes sounds when you push on the various body parts," Wyatt said, shuddering just thinking of it.

"Uhm, are you looking for this?" Rufus asked, retrieving something fluffy and colourful from beneath a table cloth on the kitchen-counter, where it had been lying the whole time next to a plate of cut up apples.

"Yes! Where did you find it?" Wyatt asked baffled, not noticing Lucy rolling her eyes at him behind his back, when Rufus wordlessly pointed at the counter.

Quickly Wyatt snatched the doll-thingy out of Rufus' hands and hid it behind his back. "I just don't want Florence to see it now that she stopped crying," he explained. "Trust me, your ears will thank me for this."

"I can fix it if you want," Rufus offered promptly.

"Fix it?" Wyatt asked surprised. "It isn't broken, Rufus, _that_ is the problem."

"Yes, I got that, what I mean is that I can disable the sound," he clarified his intentions.

"Really? You can do that? That would be great, Rufus. I don't mind the squeaking, or whatever they might call the strange noises that thing makes when it tries to talk, but the singing has to stop!" Wyatt demanded.

"Whatever you do, don't even think about slicing it open here where Florence can see it!" Lucy warned them. "If losing it caused her to melt into tears, then I really don't want to find out what happens if you destroy it in front of her."

"Good point, her crying is almost as irritating as that thing's singing," Wyatt nodded in agreement.

"Wyatt! You can't say stuff like that," Lucy reprimanded him at once, but didn't manage to hide her amusement about his comment completely.

"Well, it's true," Wyatt shrugged nonchalantly.

"How about I'll just take it home with me, and bring it back when I'm finished modifying it?" Rufus suggested. "That way Florence will be none the wiser what has happened to it."

"Yes, that is probably for the best," Wyatt sighed. "But anything that puts an end to this racket works just fine for me. You can lose it entirely for all I care."

"So Rufus, did you talk to Jiya today?" Lucy changed the subject, grinning, finally not able to restrain herself any longer. She had been dying to hear all about this the entire day.

"Yes, I did," Rufus said tersely.

"And?" Lucy prompted eagerly, but also a little confused by his demeanor.

"It was horrible," he burst out, closing his eyes in embarrassment. "I made a complete fool of myself."

"Oh come on, Rufus, I'm sure it wasn't _that_ bad," Wyatt objected.

"No, it was actually worse," he confessed, and then he told them everything about the Star Wars/Star Trek disaster.

Wyatt cringed. "I'm no expert, but that sounds monumental stupid, Rufus. Why would you even say that?" he inquired.

"Because!" Rufus groaned, hanging his head in shame before he mumbled, "It worked the first time around. Well, sort of, at least we became friends afterwards."

"I'm sorry, man, I didn't know," Wyatt apologised.

"I'm sure things are going to work out between you," Lucy tried to console him. "As soon as Jiya notices what a great guy you truly are, she'll come around."

"That's just it, I think I blew my chances with her for good," he said defeated.

"That's bull, Rufus," Wyatt said fiercely. "You simply have to make her get to know you!"

"And how do you suggest I do this?" Rufus asked heated, "I'm not like you, women don't fawn over me just because I show up."

"They don't fawn over me either," Wyatt protested at once, earning himself two sets of raised eyebrows. "They don't!" he insisted. "At least not the ones that count," he mumbled almost inaudible to himself, glancing furtively at Lucy.

"Look, Rufus, I know this is hard for you, but you have one big advantage here," Lucy reminded him.

"Oh yeah, and what might that be?"

"The fact that you know for sure that Jiya was in love with you before, in our timeline, so I'd say chances that she could fall for you again are pretty good," she encouraged him.

Rufus didn't reply but was thinking about this presumption thoroughly.

"Anyway, I think I better get her cleaned up now," Lucy sighed, pointing at Florence's tomato sauce covered shirt. "And I also think it is once again way past her bed time. Not that I have any idea when her usual bed time is," she added as an afterthought.

x

Shortly after Lucy had left, Rufus tried again to get Wyatt's advice regarding his situation with Jiya, obviously thinking that he would get a better answer how to woo women, now that Lucy wasn't in earshot any longer.

Why he would think that though, puzzled Wyatt. After all, he could count his attempts of actually trying to impress a woman with one hand. And despite Rufus' and seemingly Lucy's believes, he was terrible at it. If anything, his very bad approach at asking Lucy out, only a couple of days ago, was proof of that. No wonder she hadn't responded well to it and ran away from him as soon as possible. And he didn't even want to think about this very morning, he hardly had had the time to blink so quickly had she escaped his presence.

He wasn't completely ignorant though, he knew that he had a certain effect on women, but usually only when he didn't care.

He and Jess just kind of happened, and he had absolutely no idea how he had managed to get Lucy in this particular timeline, because in their originally one, she didn't seem to be too thrilled about the idea of trying things with him.

"You want my advice?" he eventually returned to their conversation. When Rufus eagerly nodded he said. "Just be yourself."

"Be yourself?" Rufus repeated frustrated. "Honestly? That is your great advice?"

"Lucy is right," Wyatt continued, shrugging his shoulders. "You made her fall for you once, I see no reason why it shouldn't happen again."

At the same time he said it, Wyatt realised the flaw in this assessment. If that was true, he and Lucy should have a shot too at a relationship, after all, their alter egos had one, but the way things were going between them, Wyatt could understand Rufus worry. But he was not going to share this discovery with him now, or anytime soon.

"Yeah right," Rufus snorted dissatisfied. "What could possibly go wrong?"

They were silent for a moment, Wyatt trying to find anything else that he could say, and Rufus was busy sulking.

"Rufus, look man, I'd be thrilled for you, if you can work things out with Jiya, but …" he trailed off, not sure if, or how, he should voice the thing that was bothering him.

"But what?" Rufus demanded to know.

"Wouldn't that be cheating?" he hesitantly asked. "She isn't exactly your Jiya, is she? I mean, what are you going to tell your Jiya when we get back and you had a thing going on with this other version of her?"

"IF we even can go back, you mean," Rufus corrected him, not even responding to the rest of his apprehensions.

"You say that like you don't believe this," Wyatt remarked astonished.

"Honestly? I'm not so sure we can," Rufus clarified, not even bothering to voice his fear that Wyatt and Lucy might not want to return to their original timeline any longer. Then he continued much more fiercely, "Certainly not without a time-machine, and so far I haven't seen one that is properly functioning, and I'll be damned if I give up on a chance to spend my life with Jiya. So if we are indeed stuck here, then I _have_ to try to get her back. Can't you understand that?"

"Look, I get it," Wyatt sighed, "and I don't blame you, but … I think what I'm trying to say is that I don't want you to mess this up, because you rash into this. My suggestion is that you give us a few days to work things out. If there still is a chance for us to get back to our timeline, then I'm sure we figure it out soon. And with a bit of luck you can return to _your_ Jiya, and you won't have to impress this other version of her," Wyatt grinned. "Problem solved."

"But that's just it," Rufus said sadly. "Even if we can get back to our original timeline. The Jiya I knew most likely doesn't exist anymore anyway."

"You think she would have changed?" Wyatt swallowed dryly.

"Well yeah, don't you?" Rufus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I uhm…" If he was honest, Wyatt had never even thought about this being a possibility.

"It's not that big of deal really, by now I'm kind of used to it," Rufus continued as if this revelation was entirely normal.

"Used to what exactly?" Wyatt frowned confused, getting up to retrieve two beers from the fridge, handing one over to Rufus.

"That the Jiya, I'm returning to after our missions, isn't always the same Jiya I left behind," Rufus elaborated calmly, taking a sip from his beer.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Wyatt asked alarmed.

"Well what do you think? That the people we leave behind change every time we alter history of course," Rufus explained calmly.

"That is ridiculous!" Wyatt gave a nervous laugh, for a moment thinking that Rufus was pulling his leg, but immediately stopped when he saw his unsmiling face. "You can't be serious!"

"It's the truth," Rufus shrugged again as if this wasn't worrisome at all. "Usually the changes aren't as monumental as returning to a healthy mother and losing a sister in exchange, but they are always there."

Still not convinced, Wyatt argued, "Then how come I've never noticed any of this before?"

"Haven't you?" Now it was Rufus who was surprised, raising both eyebrows at Wyatt.

"Nooo, not that I'm aware of," Wyatt said, frowning, in fact this was the first time he heard about this.

"Yeah well, I guess that is the advantage of taking the person that matters most to you with you on these missions, but I'm sure even you must have realised that Jiya, Connor, Agent Christopher, and all the others don't have the same memories of the historical events as us any longer."

"Yah, but that is negligible, isn't it?" Wyatt dismissed this at once. "I mean it doesn't change the people themselves."

"I guess it is, until it is not," Rufus replied cryptically.

"Want to elaborate?"

"Remember the "new" Bond movie?" Rufus asked, "Stupid question, of course you do."

Wyatt nodded, still not following where this was going, and what a new Bond movie had to do with any of this.

"Well, when Jiya and I first met, it hadn't existed yet, as you know, and I never would have thought that it would be of any significance to our relationship, and maybe it wasn't really that big of a deal, but after we got together, Jiya confessed that she almost instantly had a little crush on me because I reminded her of the movie Rufus'."

"Okay, I admit that is a bit unsettling, but all in all it doesn't sound too bad, does it?" Wyatt played the incident down. "I mean the movie was based on you, so her having a crush on you because of it is certainly a little strange at first, maybe even overwhelming, but also very flattering, isn't it?"

"That's not the point, Wyatt. Her memories regarding our relationship changed because we altered something in the past, so ergo, she wasn't the same Jiya anymore that I first met," Rufus argued. "She was different afterwards, not much, but noticeable."

This revelation left Wyatt in shocked silence. Inevitably he was thinking of Lucy. If they had come back to an alternate timeline in which Lucy wouldn't know him, would he be able to start anew with her?

He already had had the same thoughts back when he had tried to bring Jess back, the only difference was that with her, he only had had the choice between a world with or without her.

The honest truth was, he wanted his Lucy just like she was right now. She wasn't perfect, he knew that, but she was perfect for him, with all her flaws and quirks. He didn't even want to imagine what another version of her would be like.

He had been so damn lucky that he hadn't destroyed anything between them when he so foolishly went after his wife. At least as far as he could tell, Lucy had still been the exact same when he returned from this godforsaken trip.

And as soon as he had been able to think straight again, he had sworn to himself that he would never go into that time-machine without Lucy ever again, or that he would let her go without him right beside her, because no matter what twists were thrown at them whenever they came back after a mission, at least they were in this together. He needed the assurance that whatever was happening around them, they could still rely on each other, no matter what.

He smirked, even if that meant raising a child together.

Things were fleeting, Wyatt realised not for the first time, but after what Rufus had told him tonight, his appreciation for his friend easily multiplied by a thousand. He pitied and admired him equally that he was willing to go on all these missions without the assurance that the person he cared about would always be there, and he thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't the same for him and Lucy.

xxx

"Do you think Rufus is right?" Lucy asked later that night when they were alone again, sounding concerned. "That this is our reality now and that we have to accept it?"

"I don't know," Wyatt sighed, tiredly sinking deeper into the sofa cushions. "I guess it is possible, but I really don't want to give up yet. It's only been a few days."

"Would it be so bad though?" Lucy inquired tentatively, sitting down next to him.

Wyatt looked up at her surprised. "Are you saying you want to stay here?"

"I don't know, I'm just saying that things aren't so bad, are they?" Lucy probed further, avoiding his gaze nervously.

"I guess not, though I could have done without the surprising parenthood," he chuckled.

"That was indeed kind of unexpected," Lucy agreed, grinning.

"Yes, I mean what happened to the 9 month advance warning time?" Wyatt joked. "As far as I know, that worked perfectly fine for previous generations."

"I thought so too," Lucy endorsed. "But maybe they got rid off it to prevent you from over-thinking the whole situation and therefore minimise the flight risk for soon-to-be fathers."

Wyatt knew Lucy was just getting along with the joke, but her last comment sounded too much like something her mother would say, and at a moment's notice, he wasn't in the mood for jokes any longer.

Lucy didn't realise his change in demeanor right away and sillily went on, "I just wish they would at least include a manual these days, that would help a lot."

Wyatt sat up abruptly. "Speaking of parents," he said, unusually serious all of a sudden, "I don't think your mom wants me to be part of her family, I can feel it," he admitted through gritted teeth. He hadn't been sure if he should even mention this to Lucy, but in the end he figured, she most likely would find out anyway, at the very least when she went to see her mother.

"Maybe you did something to upset her," Lucy speculated, slightly put out by his drastic mood change.

"Yeah, sure I did, I married her daughter and got her pregnant," Wyatt snorted humorless.

Lucy shook her head, blushing a little at his bluntness. "I don't think that was the only reason."

"Trust me, one of the two is already more than enough to make parents hate their sons-in-law," Wyatt said. "It was the same with Jessica's parents. Although I think their primary concern was that I get myself killed and leave a heart-broken Jessica behind. I don't think they ever expected me to kill their daughter instead."

"Wyatt, you didn't kill her …" Lucy objected at once, but Wyatt didn't want to hear any of this. "You didn't see their faces when they found out what happened that night. For them I am just as guilty as the actual murderer. Maybe even more so …"

"Don't say that!" Lucy interrupted him sharply.

"But it's true Lucy, I think the only reason Jessica's father didn't kill _me_ that day was that he knew, he would condemn me to a much worse punishment than death when I stay alive."

Lucy didn't know what to say to this. If that was really how he was feeling, that being alive was his punishment, then there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise.

It hurt, hearing him say it, like his life didn't matter. But it mattered! It mattered to her. She needed him by her side, even if only as her friend, but obviously this need was one-sided too.

"I don't mean it like that," he suddenly said, as if he had been reading her mind. "Not anymore at least. You and Rufus, you are what is important now. I'd do anything for you, you know that right?"

"You are important too, Wyatt!" Lucy whispered, stricken with tears.

Wyatt didn't answer, or showed any other indication that he had heard her, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

"I'm starting to forget her, Lucy," he finally started to speak again. "Sometimes I can't even remember what she looked like, or the sound of her laughter, when I recall certain moments we shared together." He swallowed dryly before he continued. "And now, I don't even have a picture left of her that helps me remembering."

Lucy bit her lip, unsure if he wanted her to say something or not. But then again, she had no idea what she should say anyhow, so she remained quiet and simply let him talk.

"She was a good person, Lucy, she never would have harmed a fly. She didn't deserve to die like that," Wyatt finished his sad tale.

By then, Lucy had tears running down her cheeks, though she wasn't entirely sure if it was because of his obvious heartbreak, or her own. A bit of both probably. Her hand found its way to the necklace around her neck, seeking comfort there like she so often did these days. It also prevented her in situations like this from reaching out to touch him, as she didn't know if he would welcome the contact.

Wyatt didn't seem to have the same restrains though, as he leaned over and gently brushed the tears from her face. "There is something I wanted to tell you the whole evening," he said, smiling. "I saw your sister earlier. Amy is alive too."

* * *

 _I have to say, I was a little nervous writing for Rufus and Jiya. I love them, but I usually don't spend much time thinking about their relationship and picture conversations between them like I do with Wyatt and Lucy, and I sincerely hope that I did them justice._

 _Furthermore, I'm pretty sure it is obvious that I'm not an engineer, but I had this idea for Rufus' and Jiya's encounter stuck in my head and so I tried to gloss over the fact that I have no idea what I'm talking about by pretending that I know exactly what I'm talking about, lol. You be the judge if I succeeded ;)_

 _Anyway, I would really like to hear what you think!_


	10. Relevations

**10\. Revelations**

"What?" Lucy gasped in shock, her gaze shooting up in irritation, her eyes were widely torn open, searching his for confirmation that she truly had heard him right. Did he really just say that Amy was alive?

"It's true, I saw her, but I think she isn't the same Amy you knew," he revealed quickly before she could get all her hopes up. "She is definitely younger than your sister had been in our original timeline, but …," he trailed off when he noticed more tears brimming over the edge of her eyes. "I for one think that she is great too," he finished lamely.

"You honestly mean that?" Lucy asked again for reassurance, obviously still not believing him. "Amy is back?"

"Yeah well…" He was at a loss what else he could say. He didn't know her sister well enough to make any lengthy comparison to quell her doubts that it could be in fact the sister she had lost, even though she was a little younger. "But like I said, she might not be the same," he stated again, just in case she hadn't heard him the first time around.

"Yes, you already said that," Lucy sniffed through even more tears, but she didn't look sad anymore, as he had feared she might. In fact, her face had lit up like a Christmas tree all of a sudden while she cried and laughed at the same time.

Startled by her reaction, Wyatt had no idea what he was supposed to do now. Comfort her? Laugh along with her? He couldn't decide, so he just sat there next to her, unable to do anything at all. Then suddenly Lucy threw her arms around his neck and trapped him in a very tight embrace.

"You okay?" he mumbled into her hair, somewhere near her ear, softly stroking her back.

Just as suddenly as she hold on to it, she let go of his neck again, but her hands never lost contact as they slid down his arms and finally came to rest on his forearms. All along she beamed up at him. "Yes," she cried, clutching his shirt tightly. "I'm … Actually I have no idea, but that is the best news I've ever heard," she laughed.

"And it doesn't bother you that she might be different?" he asked concerned, just barely resisting the temptation to brush the fresh batch of tears away from her face as they made their way down her cheeks.

"No! Yes! I don't care, I'm just so happy that she is back. Any version of her is better than none at all," Lucy insisted, as she released his shirt to brush the tears away herself, causing Wyatt to curse inwardly that he hadn't done it for her.

But at least that declaration finally let him enjoy the moment with her. He happily grinned back at her for a few seconds before he boldly drew her back into his arms, holding her just a tight as she had held him before. "I'm so glad to see you so happy again," he whispered, and his heart skipped a beat when Lucy instantly hugged him back and notably relaxed against his torso.

x

Wyatt had no recollection how long they stayed this way. It felt like an eternity, but at the same time not nearly long enough when Lucy let go of him once again. And as great as it had been to hold her like that, as awkward was it now that it was over. Unsure what to say, or do next, they both turned away, unable to look the other one in the eyes.

Or at least that is what Wyatt was doing. He had no idea if Lucy felt the same way. But that was the problem, wasn't it? Wyatt was painfully aware that he was only torturing himself by encouraging situations like this between them, but there was no way he could have let this opportunity slip past him either. He was screwed, and he knew it.

"I … I can't believe she is back," Lucy whispered eventually, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.

Wyatt chanced a sidewise look at her. "So, uhm…" He cleared his throat, as his voice sounded embarrassingly rusty. "Am I assuming right that you are going to pay your mother a visit tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess I will," Lucy nodded, smiling broadly just picturing it. "You said my mother sold us the house, right? Did she mention where she and Amy are living now?" she asked impatiently.

Wyatt grinned at her eagerness. "No," he said, "but, knowing you, I'm sure you have an address book, or something like that lying in your office somewhere."

At once, Lucy sprang to her feet to check it out. "I have another class tomorrow morning, but I'll go there right afterwards," she announced happily, walking briskly towards their office.

"You have another class tomorrow?" Wyatt repeated unbelieving, following her. "Are you saying that today wasn't a one time thing? That you are going to do this more often?"

"Well, yes, that is how it usually goes," Lucy shrugged. "You give a few lectures each week and in between there is time for you own research."

"Yeah but this isn't the usual here, Lucy," Wyatt objected. "I thought we agreed on doing this together," he reminded her, pointing behind him in the general direction of Florence's toys to clarify his meaning.

Lucy frowned at him in confusion as she couldn't see the toys from her point of view.

"Florence?" Wyatt emphasised exasperated. "Your current daughter?"

"But we are doing this together," Lucy said, sounding slightly hurt.

"Are we? Because as I recall correctly, so far it has been _me_ who has taken care of her most of the time."

"That's not fair!" Lucy protested at once. "I've…"

"No it's not," Wyatt interrupted her immediately. "Just because these other versions of us might have had an agreement that I take care of the child while you carve out a career, doesn't automatically mean that we have to do the same."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Lucy challenged. "Quit my job? Is that it? Because as Rufus so nicely put it, we might be stuck here for a while, and without the backup of the government, namely Agent Christopher, we don't have an income."

"That is not the point, and you know it," Wyatt flared up. "I didn't ask for any of this to happen, and I hate that you just assume that it is okay for me to accept this and simply go along with it. The least we should have done is discuss this."

"Well, I think we are discussing this right now," Lucy pointed out, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a defiant manner.

Wyatt huffed at this, "You know what, forget about it. Just do what you have to do."

"Wyatt? Don't be like that!" Lucy pleaded, but he pretended that he couldn't hear her as went straight to the sofa to turn on the TV.

Lucy groaned in annoyance, but didn't try to reason with him any longer. If he wanted to sulk then she would simply let him do it, right now she had to find her mother's address.

xxx

Rufus was confused. He spent the whole morning pondering over all kinds of analytical problems without ever getting an explanation for their use. At first, he hadn't even thought about asking this question, simply due to the fact that he already knew the answer, but then it occurred to him that it might be considered as odd by his co-workers, especially Jiya, who was watching every one of his moves like a hawk.

But so far, Mason had refused to tell him anything. He gave away a few insinuations, but never openly said that they were working on building a time machine. It was strange, being treated like an outsider who couldn't be trusted, when he truly had been an insider from the get-go, and still felt right at home here.

He sighed deeply and pushed his empty lunch tray over to the opposite side of the table. If this was going to continue in this rate, then they would never find out anything useful any time soon. At least not at Mason Industries.

Rufus glanced up at the clock on the cafeteria wall. He still had 20 minutes left of his break and so he decided to start working on this other little project of his.

"What are you doing?" Jiya asked curious, peaking over his shoulder and pointed with a disgusted look at the bear-doll in front of him.

"Oh, uh," Rufus stammered sheepishly at being caught by her, but then got a grip and actually was able to produce a decent sentence for a change. "It's not …, it uhm, belongs to friends of mine."

Jiya raised her eyebrows. "You're friends with toddlers?"

Rufus frowned at her for a moment, unsure what to make of this comment, then he immediately cried out, "What? No! Geez!"

God damn it, wasn't he able to say at least one thing to her that didn't sound creepy? "Of course not, my friends are normal, grown-up people," he hastened to clarify, "but their daughter is a toddler, and this is actually hers, so yah…"

"Okay," Jiya grinned highly amused at his discomfort, putting down her tray of food on the place beside him. "But then what are _you_ doing with it?"

Rufus gaped at her lost for words, trying to remember the answer to this question. Luckily it only took him a minute, maybe even less, so hopefully Jiya hadn't even noticed this moment of perplexity.

"F-fixing it?" he offered insecure.

"Oh! What is wrong with it?" Jiya asked with real interest, pulling up a chair beside him and sat down.

"Uhm," Rufus uttered dumbfounded, he hadn't expected this at all. "Well, uhm, actually it's not broken," he admitted.

"But that is the problem," he hurried to add, when he saw the smile drain from Jiya's face yet again, and he was afraid that she would bolt any moment.

"Sorry, I don't follow," she frowned, but at least she didn't make the impression any longer that she wanted to leave, as she calmly began to eat now.

Rufus sighed. "I think I'll better show you," he said, and pushed the bear's belly. Immediately a horrible, metallic sound that faintly resembled some kind of song was released by the toy, making them both wince in horror.

"See?" Rufus asked hopeful.

"No!" Jiya said seriously, taking another bite, "but what I heard was downright awful," she mumbled with her mouth full.

"Yeah, you got that one right," Rufus snorted, feeling oddly relaxed around her all of a sudden. It was like some invisible wall between them has been destroyed by the sound of that awful toy.

"So what are we going to do about this?" Jiya asked excited, meaning busyness.

xxx

Lucy was nervous. No, nervous didn't cut it, she was exited and thrilled, but also terrified and anxious. She still couldn't believe this was real. According to Wyatt not only her mother was alive, and well enough to reprimand him, but also Amy was back. Lucy had always been convinced that her mother would be ill again, if she ever got the chance to revive her sister, and so this development seemed way too perfect to be true. Therefore, Lucy was afraid that she would wake up any moment now, to find out that all of this had only been a wonderful dream.

But what if this Amy was totally different from the Amy she knew? Would she still be her sister then? She had told Wyatt that that didn't matter to her, but if she was honest with herself, it did matter a great deal. It was okay as long as she resembled the Amy she knew at least a tiny little bit, Lucy calmed herself down. In fact that would be more than she dared to hope for, after all these months of painfully missing her.

For a moment, Lucy lingered in front of the door, her heart pounding unbelieving fast and her breath came out jerkily while her hand hovered hesitantly in mid-air to either knock, or ring the bell.

Before she could make a decision though, the door opened, revealing her mother. "Are you planning on standing there all day long?" she asked, looking Lucy up and down.

"Uh! Hi mom," Lucy stammered, letting her arm drop back to her side.

"Well? Come in then," her mother invited her to enter the house. "So he is back then," Carol started the conversation, leading the way towards the living room.

"Who?" Lucy asked perplexed, following her mother while simultaneously trying to take in these new surroundings, without making the impression that she saw all of this for the first time.

"Wyatt of course," her mother spat out.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Lucy wanted to know.

"I mean he has been gone for quite a vwhile, hasn't he? So I just figured it might be over for good this time."

Gone? This time? What did that even mean? Was their marriage at risk? "No, it is not over," Lucy said, hoping it sounded more convincing than she felt about it.

Carol sighed. "Lucy, you know that I only want the best for you, don't you?"

"And that isn't Wyatt?" Lucy inquired with a sickening feeling.

"Well, he has quite a temper, hasn't he? And with his job situation …, I just don't think he can provide for you the way you'd deserve."

Lucy had no idea what the Wyatt from this timeline had done, or what had happened between them, but she knew that if he was anything like the Wyatt she knew, he was worth fighting for, and so she immediately went into a defensive mode.

"Mom stop it! Wyatt is what is best for me, I love him!" As soon as she had said it, Lucy was shocked by her own boldness. She never would have thought that she could speak those words out aloud, especially in front of her mother. Until now this had been her well-protected secret, that she only recently had dared to admit to herself.

"Love," her mother huffed at that. "There is no such thing as love. Attraction yes, maybe even chemistry, but love? That is a myth, Lucy, and you of all people should know that. Open your eyes, honey, Wyatt will never be good enough for you, you need someone more equal to you, someone that can challenge you intellectually and that has no problem taking care of you and your daughter."

Lucy was horrified when some of her own thoughts about Wyatt, and bits of conversations she actually had with him, were thrown back at her in such a cruel way. Did she initially think that he was beneath her intellectually? Yes, she shamefully admitted, and her views about love had been the same as her mother's, she realised with a shock, but apparently not as definite. Somewhere along the line Wyatt had changed those views and she was thankful for it.

"Lucy, I met an old friend of mine a few weeks ago, and he has a son about your age. His name is Noah and he would be a _perfect_ match for you. He is smart, cultivated and currently he is just in the right state of life. He also adores children, so it shouldn't be a problem that you already have a daughter."

Lucy stared at her mother, completely horrified and disgusted.

"Lucy just give him a chance, that is all I'm asking of you. Go on a date with him. I told him you would."

"You what?" Lucy cried out in shock.

"Relax, it is just dinner, it's not like I asked you to get betrothed or anything."

"I'm _married_!" Lucy emphazised. "To _Wyatt_! And we have a child together."

"So?" her mother shrugged. "You made a mistake, no reason to suffer the rest of your life because of that."

Mistake? Suffer? Lucy's throat felt uncomfortably tight all of a sudden. Was that true, or was her mother just exaggerating? But even if she was, wasn't that also a hint that she and Wyatt had some kind of trouble?

So Wyatt had a temper, yes, and he sometimes acted impulsively without thinking everything through first, but he had his heart in the right place, and would never do anything to hurt someone he cared about intentional. And he always regretted his mistakes afterwards and was never ashamed to admit it if he had been wrong.

But what if his mistakes went too far to fix them with having regrets? Isn't that what has happened with Jessica?

Lucy felt sick, not only on her behalf, but also on Wyatt's. He didn't deserve it if history repeated itself, he deserved to finally be happy.

Just then her mother's voice pulled Lucy out of her thoughts and back to their conversation. "Take me for example, marrying your father was the biggest mistake of my life, even though he at least is a doctor, and he comes from a very well respected family."

Lucy frowned at that, completely shutting out the implied insult against Wyatt, and just focusing on the new information Carol just involuntarily delivered. So her mother had been married to her father, and by the sounds of it, she wasn't talking about Henry Wallace, the only father Lucy had known all her life, but her real father, Benjamin Cahill.

"…he wasn't right for me either, just like Wyatt isn't the right person for you," her mother just said as Lucy zoned back in. "And it's not too late for Florence as well. Children are very adaptable, especially when they are still as young as she is. I mean you were a lot older when I met Henry, but you accepted him as your new dad without a problem."

"My daughter already has a father," Lucy said stubbornly. "She doesn't need anyone else."

"Until then," her mother continued as if Lucy hadn't said anything at all, "let me at least pay for a proper governess for her, and I'm sure she is going to talk real soon."

Without another word, Lucy quickly turned around and left. All she could think about was getting out of this house as fast as possible. The main reason for her visit, seeing Amy, completely forgotten.

xxx

"Lucy wait!" a voice called after her just as she was about to flee the house.

Lucy stopped dead in her tracks, she would recognise this voice anywhere, and although she had foremost come here to meet Amy, she now realised that she hadn't been prepared for her at all. But suddenly there she was, hurrying towards her down the staircase of the entrance hall, a perfect carbon-copy of her little sister, just several years younger than the one she remembered. How was that even possible?

Lucy gasped in surprise, the whole day she had dreaded finding out just how different this new Amy was from the sister she had lost, but nevertheless expected her to _be_ different. It took Lucy all the restraint she could muster up to not throw herself at her and hug her as tightly as possible.

"Come on!" Amy ordered, grabbing her hand and dragging her out of the house before Lucy could even think about protesting. Once outside, they made a sharp turn around the corner and ended up in the backyard, which they hurriedly crossed until they ended up beneath an old oak tree, furthest away from the house.

"Don't listen to her!" Amy demanded, turning around to face Lucy at last. "You know her, she loves to exaggerate everything."

Lucy nodded absentmindedly, "But still, why would she think so poorly of Wyatt? Why is she so convinced that Wyatt would leave me?" she blurted out, blinking away some tears that threatened to run down her cheeks, partly out of happiness to see Amy again, and partly because of the encounter with her mother.

"That is probably more wishful thinking on her part than what really happened between the two of you," Amy said wisely, but then couldn't help asking, "You are good, aren't you?"

Lucy forced herself to smile at her sister. "Of course we are. Everything is peachy as Wyatt would say."

"Oh good!" Amy said relieved. "I would hate it if you guys split up."

"Yeah, me too," Lucy said quietly. ' _That is if we were together in the first place,_ ' she added bitterly in her thoughts.

"I know I have told you this a million times already, but he really was the only one of your boyfriends that I ever liked, and when the two of you got married, I couldn't have been happier, so _please_ , don't you ever listen to mom tell you otherwise!" Amy begged.

For a moment Lucy stared at her perplexed, then she leaped forward and pulled Amy in a bone-crushing hug, intending to never ever let her go again. "You have no idea how much this means to me, hearing you say that," she whispered in the girl's ear.

So many times Lucy had wondered what her sister would think of Wyatt. If she would approve of him. And here she was, saying the exact thing that Lucy so desperately needed to hear for such a long time already, but right now in particularly. Granted, it wasn't her Amy who said this, but this new Amy was a close enough substitute that it counted, right?

"Actually I do." Amy's muffled voice sounded from somewhere against her coat. "That is why I keep telling you."

"Why doesn't she like Wyatt though?" Lucy asked Amy after a while, reluctantly letting go of her again. Of course she had an inkling why, but she would have thought that her mother would eventually warm up to him.

"You mean besides the fact that he always talks back to her and won't let her manipulate him?" Amy grinned.

Lucy gave a short laugh at that, yes, that was one of the things she thought her mother would have issues with.

"You seriously don't know?" Amy asked, frowning at her in confusion.

"Well, knowing mom, I have some ideas of course, but I don't think she ever gave me an honest explanation," Lucy improvised, hoping that this didn't sound too vague.

"Yeah, that sounds like mom," Amy nodded thoughtfully.

"So, has she said anything to you then?" Lucy inquired curiously.

"Well, there is the obvious reason of course," Amy recited.

"The obvious reason?"

"Oh please," Amy rolled her eyes, "I was there during your big announcement. So if you ask me, I think the biggest issue is that she is still angry with him for getting you pregnant when they just had offered you tenure."

"Oh," was all Lucy could say to that. So Wyatt had at least been partially right.

"Makes you wonder how long someone can hold a grudge, doesn't it?" Amy laughed.

"Yah!"

"Anyway," she continued. "I mean you'd think she would have forgiven him by now, wouldn't you? After all, he quit his job and left the military as soon as possible after you guys found out, and he also agreed to take care of the baby so that you could accept the position they offered you. Seriously, what kind of man does that? I for one can't see this Noah guy quitting his job for you, so if you ask me, your Wyatt is definitely a keeper."

Lucy only could nod in agreement. So that is what happened. Should she feel guilty about it? She knew how important it had been to him to do his part for his country. To make his grandfather proud.

But then she realised that his grandfather probably would have been even more proud of him for doing this, for putting his family first. Still, it made her wonder once again if she knew Wyatt at all. Maybe he wasn't such a hothead after all. If possible, she fell in love with him all over again in this moment, longing even more that this reality would be true, that Wyatt truly belonged to her.

"You know, I think mom's real problem with Wyatt is that you stopped doing her bidding after you met him. Suddenly she couldn't control your actions any longer and I think that pissed her off more than anything else. Her precious Lucy went over to the devil, so to speak."

"I did become a professor for history though," Lucy pointed out.

"Yeah, and then you quit your fancy job in Ohio to follow Wyatt back to San Francisco," Amy sniggered, not noticing Lucy's surprised expression when she heard about this unfamiliar part of her personal history. "Mom was furious," Amy continued undisturbed. "She was sure that you were going to throw your life away. I guess that is why she pulled all strings possible to get you a job at Stanford, and when they even went so far as offering tenure to you…, "Amy shook her head in disbelief recalling that memory. "Mom had been so pleased."

"And then I got pregnant, and for her it was like I was ruining everything all over again," Lucy concluded knowingly, still mulling over what had changed for her that she had taken the job in Ohio after all, and wondering what all of this had to do with Wyatt. Had they met in Ohio? It certainly sounded like it.

"Exactly," Amy affirmed. "I think that is also the reason why she constantly talks him down. It truly doesn't matter what he does, he is never going to be good enough for you in her eyes. Don't tell him, but I actually admire him for staying so calm yesterday when we visited you. I for one would have smacked her across the face if she had dared to speak to me like that. Okay, maybe not actually smacked her, but I definitely wouldn't have stayed so calm and collected."

Lucy swallowed hard. Wyatt had mentioned that her mother had been rude, but he had never specified how rude exactly.

"Did you know that she is trying to manipulate me now?" Amy asked, sniggering.

"No!"

"But I think deep down she knows that I'm a lost cause. I never felt the need to please her like you did. Anyway, as soon as I turn 18, I'm out of here," Amy announced with so much certainty that Lucy had no doubts that she would follow through.

"I know it sounds strange, but did we ever mention to you why we named our daughter Florence?" Lucy asked Amy out of the blue, no idea where the sudden urge to find out about this came from. "Perhaps because of some famous historical figure?"

Amy shook her head no. "Not that I know of. But you'd have to ask Wyatt about that, if I recall correctly, it was his idea to name her that. I'm not sure if he had a specific person in mind though, I think he simply scrolled through some of your history books and wrote every name, he even remotely liked, down and then you guys chose from that list. Knowing Wyatt, he probably thought you would love that idea. Why do you ask?"

"Just curiosity, believe it or not, but I truly can't remember where that name came from," Lucy smiled uneasy.

Amy frowned at her, clearly not believing her that she would forget something like that, but the ringing of Lucy's cell phone saved her from further explanations.

She looked at it and smiled. Conveniently, Wyatt had chosen this exact moment to send her a picture of Florence. The little girl had fallen asleep in her high-chair. She still held on tightly to her spoon, while her head rested in a sidewise overturned bowl of yogurt.

Lucy took the photo as a good sign. After their fight the previous night, they still hadn't exactly been on speaking terms this morning, and only exchanged the utmost necessary amount of words before she had left for work. Lucy sighed relieved, she hated being at odds with Wyatt, and was glad that he was reaching out towards her again.

"Oh it that your new phone?" Amy asked excited and snatched it out of her hands, before Lucy was able to send Wyatt a reply. "I've been begging mom and dad for months now to buy me a new one, but they simply don't get the importance of keeping one's mobile devices up to date."

For a moment, Lucy blinked at her in confusion. Something Amy just said had caught her attention, but it had slipped her mind again before she had the time to grasp the full meaning of it.

"And you don't seem to get it either," Amy concluded disappointed after she had examined the phone thoroughly. "How am I supposed to keep my podcast going if I haven't the right equipment?" she whined.

"You have a podcast?" Lucy asked amazed.

"Are you serious now?" she asked crestfallen. "I told you all about it last weekend, and you _promised_ that you would have a look at it."

"Yeah, right, I'm so sorry Amy, I totally forgot. There was so much going on at work lately that it completely slipped my mind, but I will look at it as soon as I'm home."

"Oh come on, I knew it!" Amy suddenly cried out, fixing her eyes in exasperation on the tiny screen of the phone. "Where is that husband of yours? I'm going to kill him."

"Why? What did he do?" Lucy asked alarmed, trying to get a hold of the phone to see for herself.

"What did he do?" Amy repeated annoyed. "He changed my name again. For heaven's sake, I was nine and it was Halloween. But I swear to god, if I had known that this ridiculous nickname, that he gave me, would stick with me forever, then I never would have worn that stupid bunny costume in the first place. And I honestly thought he was finally done with calling me honey-bunny. Yesterday, he actually called me Amy, you know."

Finally having caught on, Lucy had to grin. So Amy was the mysterious honey-bunny in her contact list, no wonder she hadn't been able to find any trace of her on her phone the other day. "Yeah, Wyatt does have a tendency for odd nicknames, but I promise I'll talk to him about this, he is not going to call you honey-bunny ever again."

"Yeah sure," Amy growled unconvinced, handing Lucy her phone back.

xxx

He was in the kitchen, preparing dinner, and Lucy felt instantly guilty again. He had had every right to be angry with her last night. They had agreed to do this together, but here he was, doing it all by himself. Granted, she didn't ask for this to happen either, and she did have good reasons for her repeated absence, but unlike Wyatt, she actually wanted this, the marriage, the child, all of it. It felt so right coming home to him.

Wyatt didn't notice her right away, so Lucy took the time to study him for a while. Whatever had been going on between their counterparts, Lucy couldn't imagine for the life of her that any version of him would willingly abandon his family for long periods of time.

He was busy creating some kind of vegetable sauce, and Lucy was stunned how he was able to do that without consulting a cooking book, until she discovered that he was misusing Florence as his personal food taster.

Every now and then, he offered her various pieces of vegetable and fruits, or let her nip on the sauce itself. Then he awaited her reaction before he wrote something down on a notepad, or in case of the sauce, tried it himself.

When they both grimaced in unison after another spoonful of sauce, and Wyatt hurried to fix the damage, Lucy couldn't keep quiet any longer. "What are you doing?" she asked bewildered.

"Geez, Lucy!" Wyatt cried out, clutching his chest as he literally jumped a few inches upward. "You almost scared me to death."

"Sorry," Lucy mumbled amused, biting her lower lip to prevent a sneer.

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at her. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to see that you are mistreating the kid when I'm not around," Lucy countered good-naturedly, sitting down on a stool at the counter opposite of him.

For a moment Wyatt looked rather confused, then he snorted. "Mistreating? By feeding her? You know that you are supposed to do that from time to time as a parent, right?"

"Oh, is that what you were doing?" Lucy acted surprised.

"Hey, I'll have you know that she is a willing participant," Wyatt defended himself, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm not forcing her to do anything."

"Is that so?" Lucy asked with a twinkle in her eyes, trying to sound wary. "You could have fooled me."

Wyatt winked at her, "I wouldn't dare."

"But seriously, what are you doing?" she wanted to know in earnest, trying keep her obvious reaction to his playful banter at bay.

"Besides cooking dinner for us?" Wyatt asked, and when Lucy nodded he continued, "Well, I'm trying to find out what food Florence likes to eat, and what she hates," he explained. "And as it was time for her dinner anyway, I thought I use that to my advantage and give her various, small things to eat instead of one big meal."

"Oh," Lucy said surprised. "That is actually not a bad idea."

"So how was it? Have you seen Amy?" Wyatt changed the subject.

Instantly Lucy beamed at him. "I have and … she is younger, yes, but Wyatt, it's her, she is real. I still can't believe it," Lucy said, shaking her head. "I truly got her back."

Wyatt exhaled sharply as if he had been holding his breath. "God Lucy, that is great, I'm so happy for you."

"I just don't understand, how is that even possible? I mean what are the chances of getting the same kid when it isn't conceived at same time?" Lucy wondered, looking pleadingly at Wyatt for answers.

"You are seriously asking me that? You are the one who believes in fate and meant-to-be," Wyatt shrugged, grinning. "But does it really matter? The main think is that she is back, right?"

"I guess so," Lucy sighed and then beamed at him again. "I have my sister back," she squealed.

He beamed back at her so sincerely that Lucy felt an all-consuming warmth spread through her body. Yesterday's disagreement seemed to be totally forgotten. At least for now...

"By the way, in case you are wondering, you quit your job because of me," Lucy informed him anxiously. She didn't want to bring up their fight again, but thought that he had a right to know this.

"Seriously? Why?" Wyatt asked surprised, while he calmly attended to his cooking once more.

"Well, according to Amy you did it so that I could get tenure," she said, watching him closely for any signs of renewed grumpiness at this revelation.

Wyatt frowned at her. "Couldn't you get tenure without me quitting my job?"

"Not with a baby on the way …" Lucy said, waiting to see if he would catch on.

To her surprise, Wyatt snorted at that. "So I was right, wasn't I? Your mother hates me because I knocked you up and almost ruined your career, doesn't she?"

"Essentially, yes," Lucy shrugged, it felt so good to joke along with him after feeling so anxious about this after her confrontation with her mother. "But I can ensure you that your _endearing_ personality isn't helping either."

"Endearing, huh?" he grinned, leaning over the counter while looking at her so intensely that Lucy became rather flustered and her cheeks felt like they were burning up.

To her relieve, or perhaps disappointment, Florence decided in this moment that she had enough of serving as a Wyatt's guinea pig and began to fidget in her high-chair, effectively drawing the attention of both her parents away from each other.

Lucy was on her feet to take care of her, before she consciously decided to do so, and maybe she just imagined it, but she thought she heard Wyatt groan in frustration when she escaped the awkward situation yet again.

"So I assume that it really does mean that my primary job is being a house husband now, doesn't it?" he returned to their previous subject.

"To be honest, I don't know," Lucy admitted, feeling a knot in her stomach. She knew they had to talk about this some more, but that didn't mean she also had to like it. "I didn't want to ask too many questions, my sister was already suspicious enough. But yeah, it looks that way."

Wyatt nodded absentmindedly.

"Would that bother you very much?" she asked tentatively, readjusting her hold on Florence as she sat down again.

Wyatt grinned roguishly. "Lucy, I'm sorry about yesterday, it is just that I've never even thought about taking care of a child. And certainly not all by myself for lengthy periods of time. Believe it or not, but this question has never even occurred to me before we ended up in this reality. For one, I didn't really want to have children, and two, Jessica would have been more than willing to quit her job to take care of them."

At least he was taking it with humor now, Lucy thought relieved, even though she could have done without the little inside into his marriage with Jessica. And she also couldn't help wondering if the last bit was a snide remark regarding her reluctance to instantly quit her job. Was he comparing her to his dead wife and she was got the short straw in this comparison? She wasn't sure, and she really didn't want to fight with him again about this, so she let it go for now and said instead, "I'm sorry too, Wyatt."

"Nah, it's fine," he insisted. "I overreacted, that is all. And I guess I also owe you yet another apology," he said, suddenly grinning again.

"You do?" Lucy asked perplexed, having no idea what else might have happened that needed an apology. "What for?"

"Well, if I'm responsible for looking after Florence, then I'm probably also in charge of the contents of her diaper bag. So I guess it was me and not you who forgot to pack the diapers the other day. And I'm really, really sorry how I reacted that day, Lucy, I didn't mean to lash out at you like that."

"Don't worry about it," Lucy said smiling, reaching for half a banana that was lying on a plate in front of her, in order to feed it to Florence.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Wyatt immediately warned her, smirking.

"Why?" Lucy asked confused.

"Because she hates bananas," Wyatt revealed, shrugging. "And unless you want her to spit it all over you, I'd suggest you try something else."

"Oh, okay!" Lucy said, withdrawing her hand quickly. "Like what?"

"Here, take this!" Wyatt said, handing her a few slices of pineapple instead.

Lucy took them and offered a piece to Florence, but she turned her head away.

Wyatt frowned at her. "Maybe I got it wrong," he speculated, skimming through his notes.

"Or maybe she is just full," Lucy suggested, putting the pineapple next to the banana. "Do you think it is okay to give her so much fruit to eat anyway?" she asked sceptically.

Wyatt snorted, "I have absolutely no idea, but I guess we are going to find out soon."

Lucy scowled, "See, I knew you were mistreating her," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him, causing him only to smirk even wider. "I swear Wyatt, if she has trouble digesting all of this, _you_ can stay up to take care of her."

"Sure, unless she asks for her mother of course," Wyatt winked at her.

x

"Have you ever been stationed in Ohio?" Lucy asked him after a while. There was still so much they had to talk about, but this was the one thing that intrigued her most.

"Yes, why?"

"I think that is where we met," Lucy announced.

Wyatt let go of the spoon he had been holding to have a final taste of his creation. It first hit the stove, and then dropped to the floor with a loud clang, spreading sauce and vegetables everywhere on its way down.

"What? No! That can't be right, that is where I met Jessica," he said hoarsely.

Lucy felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under her. Did everything in his life have to do with Jessica? She swallowed hard, "Maybe you went back there after…"

"Unlikely, I did everything I could to avoid any place that reminded me of how much I screwed up," Wyatt explained grimly.

"So then the Army must have sent you back. They can do this even though you don't want it, right?" Lucy tried to make sense of this.

"Yeah but … back to Ohio? I don't think so!" Wyatt frowned unconvinced. "Not with my qualifications. That would have been a waste of resources, so to speak."

Right after he had said that, Wyatt became aware that he actually had no idea if that still was true. Maybe he never went on to be trained for the special forces before he left the army. After all, he had earned most of the qualifications after Jessica had died.

"Maybe I got it wrong then," Lucy hurried to appease him. "Amy actually never said any of this. She only mentioned that I was there and eventually moved back to San Francisco because of you, so I kind of assumed that is where we met."

"God I hate this," Wyatt groaned in frustration. "This not knowing, stumbling over bits and pieces of information that we already should know, but that never seem to fit the picture."

"There is more," Lucy announced, watching him carefully if he was up for this.

"Do I want to hear it?" Wyatt asked, narrowing his eyes at her in concern.

"It's nothing bad, I promise," Lucy assured him. "I asked Amy about our daughter's name, because I really wanted to know why we chose that particular one, especially since you don't seem very fond of it."

"Well, it kind of grew on me. Anyway, what did she say?"

"Amy said she doesn't know for sure and that I should ask you. By the looks of it, you are also responsible for naming our child."

Wyatt winced at that. "Seriously?"

"Yes, but you were right too, Amy also said that you wanted to make me happy, and that is why you searched for names in my history books, so I guess we are both to blame for that one."

Wyatt nodded at that, then he gave a short laugh, "It's so strange, isn't it? To hear about things that you were so sure you would never do, and when you think about them, you realise that maybe you absolutely would do them after all."

"Yah! Strange."

Lucy avoided his gaze, not sure if she should tell him what else she had found out that day. But of course Wyatt could see right through her. "What else happened?" he demanded to know.

Lucy sighed deeply. "My mother happened."

"She wants you to leave me, doesn't she?" Wyatt concluded, raising his eyes at her expectantly.

"How do you know that?"

"Let's say I got the message when I met her yesterday," he grimaced.

"I'm sorry Wyatt," Lucy said disillusioned. "I honestly didn't think she meant what she said to you."

"So when do I have to move out?" he smirked, and Lucy was amazed that he was able to take this with humor.

"She didn't say, but she wants me to go on a date," Lucy informed him calmly, "with the son of a friend of hers. His name is _Noah_ by the way."

"You've got to be kidding me," Wyatt cried out. "Noah? Seriously? And how can she even suggest something like that? She does realise that we have a child together, doesn't she?" he asked angrily.

"According to my mother we would be a perfect match," Lucy announced without hesitation. She would never admit it, but she actually enjoyed Wyatt's reaction. It was good to have him on her side regarding the unwanted Noah-situation.

"Great," Wyatt spat out annoyed.

"Yeah well, apparently _Noah_ loves children very much and would be _more than happy_ to adopt Florence," Lucy countered sarcastically.

"Is that so?" Wyatt said through gritted teeth. "That is too bad for him, but even if your mother thinks differently, I will not simply disappear. If anyone is going to mess up that kid, it is going to be me!"

Lucy scrutinised him, wondering if he was only disgusted by her mother's suggestion as she was, or if there was more. She didn't dare to hope that he was jealous of Noah, but maybe at least a bit possessive? After all they were supposed to be married.

xxx

Just as dinner was ready, Rufus arrived. And while Wyatt went to let him in, Lucy began to set the table.

When Wyatt and Rufus came into the room, Lucy could immediately tell that something was wrong. Granted, Wyatt had still been riled up a little because of her revelation that Noah was back in the picture, but all of a sudden he was quite upset again.

Rufus on the other hand seemed to be having the time of his life, so Lucy didn't think it could be anything too serious that was going on with Wyatt.

"Oh come on," Rufus sniggered, clapping Wyatt on the shoulder. "It's not that big of a deal."

"What is it?" Lucy asked curious, hugging Rufus briefly in greeting.

"Why is your name still Preston, if we are married?" Wyatt asked right away, sounding angry, and also slightly hurt. It hadn't even occurred to him once that she might not have his surname.

"What?" Lucy asked confused. Where did that come from?

Wyatt only huffed, so Rufus answered in his place, "I kind of noticed that your name plate says Logan/Preston while I waited in front of the door, and I made the mistake of pointing this out to him," he explained, nodding towards Wyatt.

"Why does that matter?" Lucy asked.

"Because!" Wyatt spat out, although he didn't even know why this mattered so much to him, after all, they weren't even married for real.

"Seriously Wyatt? You actually want her name to be Lucy Logan?" Rufus snorted highly amused.

"What is so funny about that?" Wyatt asked offended. "Of course I would want my wife to have my name, is that so wrong?"

Lucy starred at him with wide eyes. Not only had Wyatt just referred to her as his wife without hesitation, but he also seemed really bothered by the fact that she didn't take his name, though she had no idea why that would bother him in the first place, for her it was a perfectly normal thing to do these days. Her mother for example had never changed her name either.

"Yeah, but come on, Lucy Logan?" Rufus almost cried with laughter now, "That sounds like a heroic character in an adventure game or action movie. Lara Craft versus Lucy Logan."

"Though? I like it," Wyatt shrugged petulant, although his mood visibly had improved due to Rufus' silly comparison.

"Would also be a good name for a wrestler," Rufus added as an afterthought.

"Nah!" Wyatt grimaced. "I definitely like the adventurous action heroine much better."

"I wonder what that would make you though," Rufus continued. "The gentleman in distress?"

"Only if you assume the role of the annoying side-kick," Wyatt growled.

Lucy cleared her throat loudly, causing both Wyatt and Rufus to look at her. "Are you two done yet? And seriously Wyatt, if you want to be angry at anyone about this, then be angry at the previous inhabitants of this timeline, but don't you dare to put this on me. I had nothing to do with this. For all we know, it could have been _your_ counterpart's idea. It wouldn't be the first time that he causes trouble between us," she remarked, hinting at all the things they had found out today.

"I know, and I'm sorry, okay?" Wyatt hurried to give in. "It just baffled me, that's all," he played the incident down, even though it still rattled him why his other version of him would have agreed to this, and it nagged him greatly that Lucy didn't seem bothered at all by this.

Lucy scrutinised him for a moment, but when he didn't show any more signs of anger, she let it go. Inwardly she was rather flattered by his reaction though, she liked the idea that Wyatt wanted her to have his name if they were indeed married.

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot," Rufus said as they finally sat down to eat dinner, rummaging in his bag. "Here, as good as new." He proudly handed the modified bear-doll over to Wyatt.

"You already fixed it?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah," Rufus grinned, "It wasn't really that hard. Plus I had help."

"So it has definitely stopped singing now?" Wyatt asked suspicious.

"Well, kind of," Rufus admitted.

"Rufus, you promised that you would make it stop," Wyatt groaned.

"I was going to, but then Jiya suggested that we do something else instead."

"Jiya?" Lucy repeated delighted. "Are you saying you are on speaking terms again?"

"Yes we are," Rufus confirmed happily before he burst out. "It was great actually. She saw me working on this during my lunch break and immediately pitched in. And not just her, mind you, one by one we got more people interested in our little side-project, even Connor Mason."

"Connor Mason helped fixing the toy of our daughter?" Wyatt asked amazed, not even noticing that he had referred to Florence as his daughter for the first time without the mocking undertone.

"He did!" Rufus grinned. "At first I thought he would get angry at me for keeping his high-paid staff from doing their actual work, but instead he thought it was a great team-building exercise. And it was. I can't remember when I last had so much fun at work. Everyone was so excited about it and we came up with some really great ideas for it."

"What did you do?" Wyatt asked scared, eyeing the toy in hands apprehensively. Lucy even thought that he looked a little peaky all of a sudden.

"Nothing bad, I promise. One of my colleagues, he is a genius, a black guy named Michael," Rufus sniggered at that. "Anyway, he came up with the idea for the lullaby. He has a son around Florence's age, and he swears that it works like magic to sooth him down and get him to sleep within seconds."

Lucy and Wyatt changed a sceptical look, unsure if they should believe this or not.

"But, and that is the best part, it is limited to no more than three times in a row, after that there is a break of at least twenty minutes," Rufus continued to praise their modifications. "That was Michael's idea as well. He said although he loves the lullaby, it drives him crazy if he has to hear it over and over again. And you can also change the song, or even turn it off entirely if you absolutely can't stand it anymore."

"Wow, that is great Rufus," Wyatt said taken aback. "Thank you so much for doing this."

"Are you kidding? I have to thank you, or rather Lucy's mother, I guess. Without that thing, I most likely would still not be on speaking terms with Jiya again."

Wyatt gave him a lop-sided smirk. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is exactly what Carol Preston had in mind when she brought this monstrosity into our home. Anyway, I'm glad this worked out to both our advantages instead."

"Yeah, well, so far the good news of the day," Rufus said, suddenly getting all serious. "But there is something else you should know," he told them hesitantly. "I saw Anthony today. And Emma."


	11. Bad Surprises

**After writing a chapter that is called _Good Surprises_ , it was kind of mandatory that I also have to write one that would be called _Bad Surprises_. So I did just that. So buckle up and hold on to your seats to get ready for this emotional roller coaster!**

 **And don't forget to let me know if you enjoyed the ride ;)**

* * *

 **11\. Bad Surprises**

"Anthony? You actually mean Anthony Bruhl, the guy that betrayed Mason by helping Flynn steal the mothership?" Wyatt asked appalled, his voice slightly raised with an angry undertone.

"The one and the same," Rufus confirmed grimly. "I saw him talking to Mason in his office sometime after lunch today."

"But … but he is dead," Lucy stammered weakly, hugging herself to keep the chill at bay that started to circulate through her body when Rufus told them the news.

"Apparently not anymore," Rufus replied darkly.

"And you are absolutely sure that it was him?" Wyatt asked again, hoping that Rufus might have made a mistake. "Maybe it was just someone who looked like him."

Rufus vigorously shook his head, "No, it was Anthony, there is no doubt whatsoever."

Wyatt gave a joyless snort, "Great, so he gets a second chance at life and my wife doesn't? How is that fair?" Lucy reached for his hand and squeezed it gently but firmly, and was glad when Wyatt didn't recoil from her touch. "Hell, I think even Flynn's family deserves this more than he does!"

"This is so disturbing," Lucy shuddered, "It is one thing that Amy is back, but Anthony? He _died_ for heaven's sake! So how is that even possible? And why?" She looked pleadingly at Wyatt for an explanation, but Wyatt was just as lost as her, shrugging his shoulders in surrender. So they both turned to Rufus instead. He was the engineer after all, the one that helped invent the time-machine, so if anyone had an answer for this it would be him, right?

But Rufus looked just as clueless as them, he had a big frown on his forehead as he stared back at Lucy. Then it suddenly burst out of him, "What do you mean, Amy is back?" he asked totally bewildered.

For a moment, Lucy blinked in confusion, but then she remembered that Rufus hadn't been there when Wyatt finally shared this discovery with her the night before.

Thinking of Amy made Lucy's face light up like a Christmas tree in a matter of seconds, and, for the time being, she forgot the seriousness of their previous discussion, "It's true Rufus," she beamed, "I have no idea what has caused this, but she is back. I saw and talked to her just a few hours ago. She is real. A bit younger, but real!"

"Wow, that is great Lucy," Rufus said, beaming back at her, "I'm really happy for you."

Wyatt briefly forced a smile on his face when he saw yet again how happy Lucy was now that Amy was back, but then his thoughts went to Anthony once again and he instantly felt his blood boiling. Even if he disregarded how unfair it was that he got a second chance at life, Anthony being back was very bad news for them. Like so many times before, Flynn suddenly had the upper hand in this game of cat and mouse. Having someone inside Mason Industries that, by the looks of it, was currently closer to Mason and his invention than Rufus was, was very valuable and could mean the difference between success and failure.

"And what about Emma?" Lucy asked toneless, pulling Wyatt out of his thoughts with this change of topic. He had been so occupied with his condemnation of Anthony's return, that Emma had completely slipped his mind. "You said you saw her at Mason Industries too?"

"I think so, I mean in contrary to Anthony I've only caught a glimpse of her, but yes, I'm pretty sure it was her," Rufus said as he recalled the incident in his mind.

"But I thought she was with Flynn?" Lucy countered confused. "So what was she doing there?"

Rufus shrugged, "Maybe she sneaked back in."

"To do what?"

"Probably the same that we are trying to do," Wyatt spat out, "Finding out what the hell happened in 1843 that changed all of this."

"So you think that means that the mothership has disappeared as well," Lucy enquired, turning to him now for answers.

He nodded, "Possibly, I mean why else would she have to go back?"

"But that is good, isn't it?" Rufus remarked hopeful, "If the mothership is gone too, then Flynn can't travel back in time to mess even more things up, right?"

"Sure," Wyatt said sarcastically, "These are freaking good news."

Lucy and Rufus exchanged awkward glances, obviously afraid that he would turn his anger on them now any second.

"Sorry," Wyatt said when he noticed their alarmed faces. "It's just that this is so typically, Flynn and his henchmen luck out every damn time, while we lag miles behind, and I'm so sick of it."

"We all are," Rufus said consoling, "But I still think it would be good news if Flynn doesn't have a time machine any longer."

Wyatt sighed, "Okay yes, that _would be_ good news, but with both Emma and Anthony back at Mason's, things don't look very bright for us either."

xxx

That night Wyatt had trouble sleeping. There were so many things bothering him that his mind simply wouldn't shut off. Oddly enough, it wasn't the fact that Anthony and Emma were back at Mason Industries that occupied most of his thoughts, but Lucy. Or rather her previous revelations.

He had tried to play it down when Lucy had told him that doctor Noah was back in the picture, like it wasn't of any concern to him. He didn't even know why exactly it upset him so much, Lucy had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't interested that douchebag.

 _But at first she had tried_ _to make it work between them_ , a little voice in his head spoke up, _she even had a date with him, or rather at least one date that he knew of,_ the voice continued to tantalize him, _and she had been wearing his stupid engagement ring like forever._

And if that wasn't troubling enough already, he also had had the "pleasure" to meet her mother, who obviously hated him, but seemingly adored perfect Noah. That alone would have been a very good reason to be annoyed, Wyatt defended himself. Everyone in his spot would be shaken after such a blow to the ego. That was all, he told himself, it just didn't feel good to be rejected like that.

But then there was this stupid name plate as well. Something had snapped in Wyatt when he saw it. Of course he had no right to feel possessive towards Lucy, but damn it, he was, and to learn that this other version of her hadn't agreed to take his name had made it clear to him once again that this whole marriage thing wasn't true.

Then again, now that he thought about it, Rufus did have a point, Lucy Logan did sound a lot like a character in a story. He still liked it though as it represented their shared identity. That is what marriage was all about, wasn't it? Uniting two separate people. And what better way to show their unity than sharing the same name?

And then yet another thought hit him. Maybe they weren't married after all. For all _he_ knew, they only had assumed that this was the case because they had a daughter together, but so far he had neither seen nor heard anything that would prove this assumption. That at least would explain both their surnames on the name plate.

And maybe that was another reason why Carol Preston was against their relationship, if she thought that he wasn't _man's enough_ , for lack of a better term, to make a commitment and marry her. In a way this actually made sense to Wyatt, if other-him was still too hang-up on his first wife, then it might have been too much for him to take their relationship to this specific level. But then again, they had a kid and they were obviously living together, so in this regard not being married didn't make any sense to him at all. Unless…

Wyatt swallowed hard when this particular thought manifested itself. Unless Lucy was the one that didn't want to get married. After all, his Lucy wasn't so keen on this idea.

And just as this realisation crossed his mind, another wave of jealousy caught him completely off-guard. Other-her might not have agreed to marry other-him in this timeline, and the Lucy he knew wasn't so thrilled about the whole concept either, but some version of her in another timeline had willingly accepted perfect doctor Noah's proposal.

Wyatt snatched his mobile phone off the coffee table next to his make-shift bed and turned it on. There she was, as a background image, the other-Lucy that not so long ago had occupied this timeline. She looked just like his Lucy, only her hair was a little shorter, though it wasn't quite noticeable in this particular photo, as it was trapped in a ponytail. That he even was able to spot this little detail, told Wyatt rather clearly that he had stared at her image way too often and too long since he had discovered it sometime this morning. She beamed happily in the camera, irritatingly resembling his Lucy when she had told Rufus about Amy earlier, and he wondered if it really was such a big of a deal if she truly wasn't married to him. Probably not. At least not if she was looking that happy all the time.

Unfortunately this was his only picture of her, therefore he couldn't elaborate this theory any further, but Wyatt hadn't really expected anything else. He at least wasn't that eager to take pictures with his phone, so it wasn't very surprising that his alter-ego shared this lack of interest.

There were a few more photos of Florence though, which was a nice remedy to his doubts that other-him had been a good father. As far as Wyatt could tell from looking at them, he had cared about the little girl very much, and once again Wyatt felt guilty for taking this away from Florence. She had lost both her parents and didn't even realise it.

Speaking of Florence, just then a faint crying brought him back to reality. He needed a moment to gather himself, but then he hurried to get to her before Lucy would wake up. Despite her threat that he would have to take care of Florence tonight, Lucy had taken the baby phone into her bedroom as usual. And it only occurred to him in this very moment that he had no idea how often she had to attend to Florence during the night, making him instantly feeling ashamed again that he had accused her of leaving him alone with this.

"Hey baby girl," Wyatt whispered, picking Florence up and hugging her to his chest, "What is the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

Florence buried her head in the crook of his neck, soiling his shirt with a mix of tears and snot, but Wyatt didn't care, "Oh god, please don't say that your tummy hurts," he exclaimed worried, feeling guilty now for giving her so much fruit to eat. "I'm so sorry, sweety, I didn't mean to make you sick."

Florence didn't make the impression of being in pain though. Shortly after she had been able to snuggle up to him, the crying stopped. She also didn't need a diaper change, Wyatt concluded, giving that area a quick sniff. In fact, now that she was securely tucked into his arms, she seemed to be rather content.

Wyatt soothingly dandled her until he was sure that the crisis had passed. Then he tried to lie her down again. But as soon as Florence noticed what he was doing, her face contorted in distress and the crying started anew.

"Okay," Wyatt said, at once hugging her back against his chest, "I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

Indecisive what to do next, Wyatt continued to gently sway on the spot, effectively calming the child down again. "So what now?" he murmured into her soft curls, "You don't expect me to keep doing this the whole night, do you?"

He didn't get an answer, not even the trademark no. Afraid that she would start crying again as soon as he tried to put her down, Wyatt decided at last to take Florence downstairs with him, so that they wouldn't accidentally wake up Lucy.

x

He sat cross-egged down on the sofa and put Florence on his lap with her upper half supported by his right arm, so that she was actually more lying down than sitting up. He thought that this position was a perfect compromise as it allowed her to easily fall asleep, but it also provided him with a good look at her.

"You know, it's not like I don't want to take care of you, or anything, it's just that all of this is happening so fast," he tried to explain his predicament, gently rubbing Florence's tummy in case it hurt after all. "Most of the time I have no idea what I am doing, and the mere thought of messing anything up scares the hell out of me. That is why I want Lucy to be here as well. I'm sure it would be much easier that way."

Wyatt sighed, "Don't get me wrong though, I don't want Lucy to quit her job, I know how important it is to her, I just …," he frowned confused, "I think … okay, I know this is going to sound strange, but, um, I think I'm jealous of her work." He gave a short snort at this realisation, "Kind of stupid, isn't it? Who in their right mind would be jealous of something like that, right?"

Florence blinked her eyes tiredly and reached out to grab the hand that was still massaging her stomach, clutching two of his fingers tightly in her tiny fist. Wyatt stopped his treatment and smiled down at her, more sure than ever before that she was truly his kid. Or rather his other version's kid, but that tiny detail was neglectable, for all he cared, the important thing was that she wasn't this blasted Noah-guy's kid.

Sitting here with Florence in the middle of the night, Wyatt wasn't able to deny it any longer, the little girl had stolen her way into his heart, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Okay listen, I might not be your real dad, but I'm still a thousand times more your dad than _he_ ever will be, you got that? And there is no way, I'm letting him take over, no matter how perfect your grandmother thinks he is."

"'kay," Florence mumbled drowsily, but never taking her eyes of him.

"How did he do it?" Wyatt asked Florence out of the blue, tenderly caressing her fingers that held onto his with his thumb. "Your dad, I mean, how was he able to make his Lucy fall in love with him?"

Florence yawned heartily in response as if she wanted to say, _if you don't know that, I can't help you._

"Fine," Wyatt growled, "Keep you secrets."

After that, he silently smiled down at her for a while, watching her pointless fight against the tiredness. "Her mother is right, you know," he continued eventually, "I am not good enough for her. Lucy is…," he shook his head as if he still couldn't believe how amazing Lucy was in his opinion, "not only is she incredible smart, brave, and generous, to name just a few of her admirable attributes, no, she also is so unbelievingly beautiful." Wyatt chuckled, "It would be much fairer if she was hideous, don't you think? Then at least I would have one less reason to feel so inadequate in her presence all the time."

At last, Florence closed her eyes and finally drifted off to sleep.

Wyatt kept watching her mesmerised for a while longer, then he pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead and bedded her more comfortable in the crook of his arm before lying back down on the sofa. Florence immediately snuggled closer against him in her sleep. She was now resting half across his chest and was half supported by his right arm so that she couldn't slip down. Not that she could have gone far anyway, as the backrest of the sofa would have prevented that. Assured that this way no harm could come to the sleeping child, Wyatt closed his eyes as well. It didn't take long now and he too fell asleep.

xxx

Wyatt and Florence were busy building a castle out of wood blocks when Lucy came down the stairs the next morning.

"There you are," Lucy greeted, kneeling down next to Florence on the floor to kiss her on the cheek. "I was wondering where you have disappeared to." Then she turned to Wyatt, "Sorry, I must have slept very deeply, I honestly didn't hear her wake up."

"That is fine," Wyatt dismissed her apology, shortly contemplating if he should tell her that Florence had spent the night on the couch with him and she wouldn't have been able to hear her even if she wanted to, but lastly decided that it didn't matter. "We've been up for a while already. I guess we both couldn't sleep very well last night."

"Did she have cramps, or something?" Lucy asked worried, smoothing Florence's hair back.

"Uhm, no, just a little soft stool, nothing too serious though," Wyatt informed her before even realising what he was telling her. "No idea if giving her all those fruits yesterday was the cause for that."

"Oh, okay," Lucy acknowledged his report, "I guess that is good to know."

Wyatt's eyes grew wide with embarrassment. "Uh, yah, good to know indeed," he mumbled. For the next few minutes he avoided looking at her while he was feverishly trying to find something else to talk about that didn't involve digestion.

"So, how come you are not in a hurry this morning?" he eventually asked, just having noticed this change in her morning routine.

"Why would I be?" Lucy asked back, her eyes glittering with amusement. "I kind of took the day off, which means I'm not expected to show up anywhere on time today, so there is really no need for me to hurry."

"You are not staying at home on my account, are you?" Wyatt asked uncomfortably, "Because I swear that is not at all what I wanted you to do."

"No," Lucy replied, getting back up from the floor. "I just don't have any classes today and well, I'm not really in the mood to do research. I can't possibly think of any subject right now that I would want to study more closely with just the help of some dusty old books," she explained. "Not after experiencing history first hand for all those months. But I appreciate you saying that, Wyatt, it means a lot to me."

"Okay, good," he said abashed, "Just wanted to make sure."

"However, since I won't be leaving the house today, I've decided to finally fulfil my share of our deal. And I thought I could start with making breakfast," she announced, already walking towards the kitchen.

"You what?" Wyatt asked alarmed, instantly springing to his feet.

"I said I'm going to make breakfast," Lucy repeated surprised by his reaction.

"Um, … no offence, Lucy, but… here, why don't you take care of Florence instead? She's been already asking for you the whole morning," he said, pointing over to the child that wasn't showing any signs at all that she was desperately missing her mother.

"O-okay," she stammered taken aback, but obediently moved aside to make room for him in the kitchen. Having nothing else to do now, Lucy went back to the sofa to join Florence who was still playing with the blocks in front of it.

"So, do you want to stay on the couch forever?" Lucy asked, examining the mess of pillows, sheets and blankets that served as Wyatt's bed.

"Why? Do you want to switch places?" Wyatt asked with a frown that soon after was replaced by a smug grin. "Or is that an invitation to share with you?"

Lucy starred at him open-mouthed, "I uh…"

"Don't worry, the couch is fine," Wyatt assured her immediately, silently cursing himself for letting this thought slip out of his mouth. What the hell was wrong with him? First he talked to her about the texture of baby poop and now this. _Real smooth, Logan you idiot, that surely is the right move to woo Lucy. No way she will be able to resist you now._

"We do have a spare room, you know?" Lucy informed him, discreetly ignoring his comment.

"We do? Where?" Wyatt asked surprised. So far he hadn't spent much time upstairs, only to use the bathroom and to tend to Florence.

"Amy's old room should be available."

"Oh," was all Wyatt could say to that. Of course there would have been a room for Amy as well somewhere in the house.

"It's probably empty though," Lucy speculated, "I mean the Wyatt and Lucy of this timeline just moved in and with the office down here, and Florence living in my old room, I can't imagine what else they could have done with it."

"So you haven't been in there yet?" Wyatt asked surprised.

"No I…," Lucy paused a moment to gather her thoughts, "It feels strange, don't you think? Like we are violating some other peoples' privacies."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Wyatt sighed, leaning back against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I just thought it might be different for you as this actually was your home before."

"Really? Because I think that makes it actually worse," Lucy snorted. "Everything is so familiar and strange at the same time. There are moments when I can completely forget that this isn't my home any longer, and then something happens and I'm abruptly drawn back to reality and everything is so surreal again."

"Do you think … I don't know," Wyatt hesitantly voiced his thoughts, "The boxes in the office … do you think we should finally open them?"

"Oh, um, sure," Lucy sounded uncertain, "Why not?"

"I mean they could contain some valuable information, right?" he argued.

"I guess so…"

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to," Wyatt assured her hurriedly, feeling her reluctance and didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready yet.

"No, we should do it," Lucy said determined. "It's about time."

xxx

They didn't start on the boxes immediately after breakfast though as Lucy had thought they would, but first cleaned up together. It didn't take long, but it felt awfully domestic to Lucy how they worked side by side. She definitely could get used to this.

Then, as they were done with the kitchen, Wyatt joined Florence in the living room. They snuggled together on the couch, watching some silly kid's program, and Lucy felt another vibe of homey feeling wash over her as their combined laughter sounded through the house. Was this what Wyatt and Florence had been done the last couple of days when she had left them on their own? It surely felt like this was some kind of routine between them.

Lucy wasn't interested in the cartoon that was showing on TV, but she wanted to be part of this, of them, but they looked so in sync that she also didn't want to intrude. The homey feeling disappeared abruptly, and Lucy suddenly felt left out. And the only person she could blame for this was herself. It had been her own choice to exclude herself from them. She had had good reasons for her absence of course, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had been, and still was, missing out on some very important developments.

As if Wyatt had been reading her mind, he suddenly turned around towards her and called out, "Hey Lucy, don't you want to join us?"

"I … yes! I'll be there in a minute," she called back, immensely relieved that she was invited in.

As soon as Lucy sat down, Florence crawled over to her. Wyatt made a half-heartedly attempt to stop the escaping child by grabbing one of her legs. Florence squealed in surprise at the sudden attack that caused her to stumble a little, but in the next moment, she had reached the security of Lucy's arms and Wyatt let go of her.

"I should have known that the little traitor would leave me cold in the ditch as soon as a better option comes along," he growled playfully.

"You can't blame her for having good taste," Lucy retorted boldly, hugging Florence closer to her chest.

"I'm not, I'm merely trying to cope with the harsh reality of being ditched," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes, handing Lucy a blanket so that _she_ could snuggle up with Florence now.

"Funny, I've never noticed what a drama queen you truly are," Lucy snorted, gratefully accepting the blanket.

"Yeah well," Wyatt shrugged the jibe off, "You wouldn't know what I'm talking about, so …"

"What? You think I've never been ditched before?" Lucy asked bewildered, not sure if he was still joking.

"I highly doubt that," Wyatt said at once, full of confidence that he was right.

Astonished, Lucy raised her eyebrows at him. Where was that coming from?

"Oh come on," Wyatt continued to argue his point as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You are smart _and_ beautiful. Who'd be stupid enough to dump you?"

For the second time this morning, he had managed to render Lucy speechless. Once again she had the impression that he was trying to flirt with her. But did he indeed mean what he just said? Did he truly think she was beautiful, or was it just playful banter and she was reading way too much into it because she wished it would be more? After all, she had seen him flirt with other women before and his technique had always been much more refined than anything he had tried with her. Of course he mostly did it to get information out of those women so that they could fulfil their current mission, but the process itself would still be the same as genuine flirting, wouldn't it?

Feeling awkward, Lucy chanced another look at him, attempting to get to the bottom of his odd behaviour lately. To her disappointment, he didn't look like he actually meant it in the way she wanted him to. On the contrary really, he almost looked ashamed for saying these things to her.

"Still just stating the facts, ma'am," he mumbled abashed when he noticed her looking, giving her a disarming smile.

After that, they both didn't seem to know what else they should say, or how to behave around each other, so they wordless agreed to forget about this particular conversation and turned their attention back to the cartoon on TV instead.

For a while they watched in tense silence, until Lucy couldn't bear it any longer. "So is that what you guys are doing whenever I'm not around?" she asked, nuzzling Florence hair.

"Yeah, pretty much, this and battling dragon's disguised as your mother," Wyatt said, winking at her.

Lucy didn't know what to reply to this either, once again feeling confused by his actions, and rather ashamed of her mother's behaviour towards him the other day.

The way he was playing the incident down now by joking about it, only made Lucy realise how much it truly must have affected him. Amy also had implied that it had been bad, and Lucy wondered not for the first time what exactly her mother had said to him. If nothing else, she would at least be able to contradict her and show Wyatt that she was on his side.

But Wyatt must have interpreted her silence differently, as he hurried to say, "I'm sorry, Lucy, I didn't mean to make fun of your mother. I'm sure she was just worried about you."

"No," Lucy said, reaching out to grab his hand, "You have nothing to be sorry about, Wyatt. Amy told me that she was being intolerable, and you didn't deserve this at all. And I promise that I won't let her get away with this so easily," she finished heatedly.

"Nah," Wyatt shrugged it off, "don't bother. It wasn't that bad. Just strange, I guess, as I for one have never met her before, and being all of a sudden confronted with such a stable opinion of my bad character was … well, let's say unexpected," he grinned, squeezing her hand back to assure her that he was fine.

 _God, I love you Wyatt_ , Lucy thought letting her gaze wander from his grinning face to their intertwined fingers, wishing that he would never let go again. But as soon as she had thought that, Wyatt detached his hand, and cleared his throat, "So, um, what about those boxes then, shall we have a look at them, or not?"

"What?" Lucy asked slightly dazed. "Oh, yah, the boxes. Sure. Why not?"

"Great," Wyatt said eagerly, reaching for her hand again to pull her to her feet.

xxx

The first boxes, they opened, contained mostly work related stuff from Lucy, but also lots of files full of important documents from insurance companies and such.

Lucy's hope that they would also find Florence's birth certificate, to finally determine her exact age, was unfulfilled though. Which was a real bummer as she couldn't think of anything worse that screamed bad parents than having to rely on other people to remind them of their own daughter's birthday.

She briefly looked over to Florence who was busy playing with her wood blocks again. It simply wasn't fair that they didn't know this and similar things about their daughter. That everything that had happened to the little girl until now was not stored in their memories as it should be. How were they supposed to tell her one day about these very first years of her life if they couldn't remember them?

Lucy sighed sadly and turned to the next box. This one clearly belonged to Wyatt as it was full of memoirs of his military service. Reverently, she extracted a formal-looking casket and opened it. Just like she had suspected, it contained a medal, and she wondered if it was the same one that he had mentioned to Colonel Bowie back at the Alamo.

"Look at this," she said excited, giving him the casket with the medal in it.

He grimaced, "Why am I not surprised that that thing would survive even the most fundamental changes in my life?" he said disgusted and carelessly threw it back into the box.

Lucy wasn't exactly caught off guard by his reaction, knowing the story behind the medal, but she would have thought that he would treat this hard evidence of his achievements with a little more respect. "There is more though," she revealed in hopes of consoling him, and retrieved a package of photos that were bound together with a leather strap from the box.

"Do you remember any of these?" she asked Wyatt, showing him the photos.

"Actually I do," he said taken aback, "This is my buddy Zachary," Wyatt explained. "The one, you know…" he said, nodding towards the offending medal.

She knew, the one who lost the gamble with the coin and died so that Wyatt could escape. Although she was curious to see him, Lucy only spared Zach a short glimpse as the man right next him was much more of interest to her. He looked so young in this picture, and almost carefree. "How old were you there?" she asked, looking expectantly at Wyatt.

"I don't know, 25 or 26, I guess," Wyatt said, already focusing on the next photo. "Look at him," he said with a sad smile.

"Is that Bam-Bam?" Lucy asked with a mixture of sadness and regret, looking over Wyatt's shoulder. It might not have been her fault that he had died, but she felt at least somewhat responsible for what had happened to him.

"Yeah, that silly idiot was always up for a good joke," he remembered fondly. "I still can't believe he is gone as well."

They had never talked about what had happened to Bam-Bam on that mission to France in 1927, but Lucy knew that Wyatt blamed himself for the death of his friend. If he had been there as he should have been, Bam-Bam would still be alive. No one else was thinking along those lines, but Lucy was sure that Wyatt did.

Sometimes she wondered how he was able to function at all with all the guilt he was carrying around, no matter if it was justified or not. How could he still be happy and crack jokes all the time with so much weight on his shoulders? She assumed that it was probably part of the training to become a soldier, but nevertheless, Lucy admired him for the ability to go on despite everything that had happened to him, but she was also worried about him for the same reason.

"Okay, I think we have struck gold," Wyatt announced suddenly, drawing her attention back to him. She watched him with growing anxiety as he pulled a full-fledged photo album out of the box in front of him. She swallowed hard, remembering the last time she had a look at an album just like this one, full with pictures of a life that she had no memory of.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked reluctantly.

"Are you kidding?" Wyatt asked excited, "This is exactly what we were looking for, isn't it?"

"I know but…"

"No buts, Lucy, we are going to do this," Wyatt said determined. "I mean what is the worst that could happen? I don't think there are going to be any inappropriate photos in here, wouldn't you agree?" He winked at her suggestively, making Lucy blush a little. And before she could protest any further, he had already opened it.

"Wow, okay, I have to admit that I didn't expect to find this," he said overwhelmed by the sight in front of him.

"Why? What is it?" Lucy asked with a mixture of fear and impatience.

"Our wedding," Wyatt said, sounding rather emotional all of a sudden. "To be honest, I actually thought that there would be a lot of baby pictures of Florence in here."

"We can still put it away again," Lucy suggested, not sure if she wanted to see _them_ on _this_ particular day.

"Nah," Wyatt objected in a husky voice, "I want to see it."

Lucy watched him with baited breath as he turned another page. Whatever he was seeing, it obviously wasn't bad. On the contrary really, as suddenly a huge grin appeared on his face.

"Well, I don't think it was a planned pregnancy," Wyatt announced, detaching the photo he was looking at to show it to Lucy.

"Yeah, but we already knew that," Lucy said, taking it from him to have a better look at it. With some difficulty, Lucy suppressed a surprised gasp as she saw it. Under the wedding dress, the Lucy in the picture was clearly sporting a prominent baby bump. "Actually I would say it wasn't a planned wedding either," she concluded dryly.

"True," Wyatt chuckled.

"We look happy though," she observed, sounding a bit melancholic. She never would have believed it if someone would have told that one day she would be jealous of herself. But here she was, going green with envy because her counterpart had experienced the one thing that she so desperately wanted.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Wyatt asked surprised. "It's our wedding day."

"Yeah, but … I don't know, I guess it is just too strange seeing us like this," Lucy countered.

"It is strange," Wyatt agreed, flipping through the pages. Then he suddenly froze and stared unblinking at the album. "It can't be…," he whispered faintly.

"What is it?" Lucy asked curious.

"This woman there," he whispered hoarsely, pointing with a shaking finger at one of the photos in front of him. "That is Jessica."

Lucy leaned forward to have a better look at it. "Are you sure?" she asked, trying to stay calm even though she felt like she had just missed a step while going down a staircase.

In all the time they knew each other, she had never seen a picture of his wife, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to see it now.

In the beginning, she had been rather curious about the woman that had captured the heart of Wyatt Logan so thoroughly that he still couldn't let go. She had been fascinated by the one and only person that was able to turn the mission-orientated soldier into a loving fool.

She also knew that he used to carry a photo of her in his wallet. She had caught him looking at it several times, with a mixture of hope, longing and sadness on his face, before and after their missions. At first, Lucy had been dying to take a glimpse at it, but she never dared to ask. Those moments felt way too private to interrupt them just to satisfy her curiosity.

And then the inevitable happened. With growing certainty, Lucy noticed that she was developing feelings of her own for that lovesick fool. Feelings that went way deeper than friendship, and she started to resent his love for his first wife. Of course she always felt guilty whenever she became aware of this resentment, but she couldn't stop it either. As a side-effect though, she completely lost interest in seeing his wife's image.

Lucy had always suspected that Jessica was very beautiful, and eventually she realised that it was probably better for her own sake, if she didn't know for sure what her _competition_ looked like. Not that Wyatt would see her as competition to his wife anyway.

"Of course I'm sure. That is my wife, Lucy!" Wyatt said forceful, leaving no doubt whatsoever about his sureness.

"Um, actually, that's our babysitter," Lucy revealed with a lump in her throat, recognising the young woman that had let her into the house on their very first day in this realty.

"Wait what?" Wyatt's head shot up and he focused his gaze on her. "Are you saying you know her?" he asked, sounding almost accusingly.

Lucy was taken aback by his sharp reaction, "I … no … I met her though," she stammered, a little concerned how he would take the news, "She was taking care of Florence when we came back, uh, I mean that day when we ended up in this timeline."

Wyatt looked at her flabbergasted. "She was here? In this house?" he repeated breathless. "Only a few days ago?"

"Yes," Lucy confirmed even though she didn't think that Wyatt had actually heard her, or needed that confirmation. He looked like his brain was doing cartwheels, busy comprehending all these new facts and trying to make sense of them at the same time.

Lucy had trouble processing all of this as well, but she was even more afraid of Wyatt's reaction. He was too calm for her liking, too composed for the world-shattering discovery that his dead wife was back. Lucy watched him with increasing concern, readying herself for the moment that was about to come. She would lose him, she knew that, but she wondered if he would storm out of here without saying another word on his quest to get his wife back, or if he would confide in her first, maybe even asking for her advice. Lucy wasn't sure which scenario she preferred.

And then the moment was there, and it was not at all what Lucy had expected. "Well, guess that confirms it, Jessica did die because of me," Wyatt said bitterly, nodding his head while he accepted the hurtful truth.

"Wyatt…," Lucy gasped, but he didn't seem to hear her.

"Obviously I wasn't with her that night," he continued pointing at the pictures in front of him as if they were the proof of his assumption. "It makes sense, doesn't it? If I hadn't been with Jessica back then, I wouldn't have been able to fight with her either, and therefore I never would have abandoned her in the middle of the night on a godforsaken road to cross ways with a killer."

He said all of this with so much self-loath that Lucy visibly flinched. She had heard the story before. He had told her all about it after their fall-out over the stupid diary in 1972, but back then it hadn't sounded that harsh. He had merely stated the facts in a very detached manner.

But now, he apparently wasn't able to hold back his real feelings any longer. Lucy had had an inkling how he truly felt about this horrible occurrence, and she also had had a short glimpse at them the other day when he told her that being alive was his punishment, but this outburst now, showed all his remorse, guilt, despair and hatred unfiltered, making it clear how much he truly had suffered all this time after his wife's death, and all Lucy wanted to do was hug him tightly and tell him that he was wrong, that it wasn't his fault.

Luckily she didn't follow this impulse though, because the next thing that came out of his mouth felt even worse than a punch to her stomach.

"I just … I don't get it, Lucy, I mean, why would I even be with you, if Jess is still alive?" Wyatt wondered aloud.

Lucy gaped at him in shock. Did he even notice how much he hurt her with comments like this? Of course he wasn't aware of how she felt about him, but she knew that he at least cared about her as a friend. Shouldn't he be more sensitive to her feelings for that reason alone? Was it really okay to tell your friend so blatantly that you are not interested in them this way? Maybe it was, she speculated, after all that was the foundation of their friendship, honesty. Which, by the way, was also a remnant of their Watergate-mission.

It still hurt though to be so obviously rejected by him, but this was her problem, not his. Swallowing hard, she threw one last sad look at him before she quietly got up, picked up Florence, and quickly left the room, so that she could deal with her emotions on her own.

x

Wyatt didn't notice that Lucy had left him, he was too busy making sense of everything. So obviously this other version of him hadn't moved on too quickly after all, as he had assumed, he simply never had to go through this agonising pain of losing his wife. That part at least was a relief. But _why_ did he leave Jess then?

He restlessly started to pace through the room. This particular piece of information puzzled and tormented him to no end. Did that mean his love for Jessica hadn't been as strong as he thought it had been? Or maybe had it been the other way round and Jessica simply hadn't loved him enough to make their marriage last?

But what about Lucy then? If his love for his wife had indeed been as strong as he always thought it was, did that mean Lucy was some kind of rebound?

Once more Wyatt felt sick merely thinking of a timeline in which Lucy was his second choice, because that scenario didn't even remotely match his current feelings for her. She might be his second love, but never his second choice!

Or would she be, he suddenly wondered with a pang. Jessica was alive after all. This was what he had wanted all along, wasn't it? He could have a second chance with his first love, he realised shakily. Suddenly feeling too weak to stand upright any longer. He quickly sat down again before his knees were going to give in and he would hit the ground.

What was he supposed to do now? He was married to Lucy and they had a child together. He couldn't simply abandon her and run off with Jess, could he? That was if Jessica even still wanted to be with him.

But then again, Lucy didn't seem to want to be with him either. She was playing along, but Wyatt knew that she wasn't thrilled by their current situation. Ever since they had found out about their relationship status in this timeline, he felt like she was distancing herself from him. Every time he tried to get closer to her, she retreated from him, and he hated it.

That was one of his main reasons to push their efforts to restore their initial timeline, he wanted his Lucy back. The one that confided in him, that openly shared her thoughts and feelings with him.

But if Jessica truly was alive, then there was no way they could go back to their previous timeline. That would be like killing her all over again, and this time it would not only be his fault, but his own choosing. There was no way that he could do this.

But did that automatically mean that he also wanted her back? Could he ignore his feelings for Lucy that easily? The answer was no, that much was clear to Wyatt, but what he was going to do about it, he had no idea.

Anxious, Wyatt went back into the living room and picked up his phone from the coffee table. With bated breath, he began scrolling through his contacts until the name he was looking for came into sight. Of course the fact alone that her name was still there didn't have to mean anything. In his original timeline, he never deleted it as well, but after seeing that picture and hearing Lucy's confirmation…

Wyatt visibly trembled as his finger hovered just above her name, unsure if he should give her a call or not.

In the end though, he chickened out. He had no idea what he should say to her, especially as he was still in the dark about what had happened between them, and why he had ended up with Lucy instead.

Lucy!

Wyatt's heart clenched painfully together as her image forced itself into his thoughts once more. Overwhelmed by his feelings, he closed his eyes and gave in to this unfulfilled desire to be near her.

He opened his eyes again and looked around, expecting to find her somewhere in the vicinity, silently offering him her support, like she had done on countless occasions before, but he was alone. At first he was rather disappointed that she was gone, but then he felt oddly relived as he realised that he had no clue how he was supposed to behave around her any longer. For her it probably wasn't that big of a deal, Wyatt thought bitterly, but he was a married man again all of a sudden, and he had tried to hit on Lucy several times already. Granted, in this timeline it was Lucy he was married to, but in his mind, his wife was still Jessica, and that made everything so damn complicated.

Wyatt cursed himself silently for letting Lucy sneak into his heart even though he had sworn after Jessica's death that there would never be anyone else that would be able to take her place. How could he have forgotten all of this?

Then again, how could he have not with the way things were developing between him and Lucy? _Because all of this was one-sided, you idiot_ , Wyatt reminded himself, _Lucy just sees you as a colleague and friend. The same way she sees Rufus. Hell, she might even be happy to get rid of your sorry ass that way._

But even if that was the case, they still had Florence to think of, and just the thought of leaving that little girl made Wyatt gasp in horror. There was no way he was going to do _that_ , no matter how convinced Lucy's mother was that he would do it eventually anyway.

Wyatt groaned in frustration, his feelings were all over the place and he had not the least inkling what he should do now.

Suddenly he was afraid to see Lucy again. He needed to be alone for a while, to think, but he was staying in the living room that unfortunately also happened to be the kitchen. In other words, the two places in a house that seldom provided privacy.

Then he remembered the spare room, Lucy had mentioned earlier. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep there yet, but maybe it would ensure him some alone time.

xxx

Lucy had taken refuge in her bedroom. She knew Wyatt wouldn't come in here without her permission. Not that he would want to see her anyway. Not now that he had his real wife back. She curled up on her bed and drew Florence into a tight embrace. The little girl looked up at her with big blue eyes, trying to make sense what was going on with her parents. The eyes that looked so much like Wyatt's were filled with unshed tears, and Lucy's heart clenched up, seeing this.

"It's fine," Lucy whispered soothingly, kissing the child's forehead, "Everything is going to be okay."

She burrowed her nose into Florence's hair and inhaled the unique scent deeply.

So Wyatt would leave her, that much Lucy was sure of. Perhaps he was even already gone, she realised and swallowed hard. This had been too good to be true anyhow. But she still had Florence, Lucy comforted herself. No matter what was going to happen, she still had his child, and the memory of a few days spent in absolute bliss, pretending that this marriage and their little family was real. Jessica couldn't take _that_ away from her ever.

It was a poor consolation, but it was all she had and she would cling to it as long as she could.

Lucy was about to drift off into a welcoming and hopefully dreamless sleep, when Florence began to stir in her arms. Lucy might be willing to nod off to forget her sorrows for a little while, but her daughter was not. She wasn't tired at all and she also couldn't understand her mother's strange demeanor. Cuddling was nice of course, but now she was bored and wanted to play.

Lucy tried a few times to settle her down again, unwilling to lose the closeness to the little girl, but without luck. Florence was getting more restless and crankier with each attempt to make her lie still, so eventually Lucy gave up and reluctantly let her go.

For a very short moment, Lucy hoped that Florence would find something to entertain herself in the bedroom, but, needless to say, Florence went straight to the door and reached for the knob. Lucy was up from the bed with a jolt when the door indeed opened and the little girl happily run through it.

"Damn it," Lucy cursed, running after the child and caught her right before she reached the stairs. She had no idea if Florence was already able to use the stairs on her own, and she definitely wasn't very keen on finding out. The last thing she needed on top of everything else was an injured child.

"Let's go to your room, okay?" Lucy suggested, stirring the little girl in the opposite direction. She wasn't sure if Wyatt was still downstairs, and she didn't want to get clarification. She knew it would either be devastating to confront him again, or to ascertain that he truly had left.

xxx

Just as Lucy had closed the door after her and Florence, Wyatt came up the stairs in search for the spare room. It was eerily still up here, and he briefly wondered what had happened to the other two, but he didn't have the strength to find out at the moment. Maybe they had left the house entirely, he speculated, to give him some privacy. It didn't really matter, he was just thankful that he didn't have to deal with either one of them right now. First he needed some time to get his thoughts and feelings back in order.

The left side of the corridor led to the master bedroom, the bathroom, and Florence's room. Those were the rooms that Wyatt was familiar with, so he turned to the right. There he noticed two more doors. It was strange, Wyatt thought, he was aware that he had seen them before, but apparently never really acknowledged them. Quietly, he walked down the corridor towards the first door. It didn't lead to a real room, like he thought it would, but a large wall cabinet, or rather a small storage room, filled with even more unpacked cardboard boxes. Wyatt groaned in frustration, where were they supposed to put all of this stuff?

He closed the cabinet again and walked over to the second door. He opened it and stared inside. It took him a moment to realise what he had walked into, but then it hit him with full force.

"LUCY!" he called out in panic, clutching the door tightly in support.

Only seconds later, Florence's door was yanked open, and Lucy hurried towards him. "What is it? Are you okay?" she asked out of breath when she reached him.

"I … um," he had no idea how to tell her, so he simply gave the door a push, causing it to open completely, and giving her an unhindered view into the room in the process.

Curiously, Lucy took a step forward to look inside, "A nursery?" she asked bewildered.

"I think we killed our baby," Wyatt choked out, the dread of his discovery still noticeable.

"What are you talking about? Florence is in her room over there," she said pointing down the corridor.

"Exactly! So why do you think we need a nursery if our daughter already has a room?" he asked in a thin voice.

"Oh my god, you don't think there was another child here and I left him or her on their own when I rushed out of here the other day?" Lucy felt nauseated just thinking about this scenario.

"Um, no," Wyatt said toneless, "There would be…" He visibly struggled bringing himself to say it out loud. "No corpse," he uttered eventually, hoping that he wouldn't have to go into more detail than that.

He felt Lucy trembling beside him, but didn't dare to look at her. "Then what are you saying?" she asked shaken.

"I don't know …" he trailed off again.

"Wyatt, please!" Lucy begged, not in the mood for riddles and cryptic hints.

"Okay fine…, I think this other version of you might have been pregnant and we kind of erased this baby when we came back from our last mission," Wyatt quickly explained his assumption.

Lucy looked at him aghast, all the color draining from her face when the meaning of his words sank in. "No!" she whispered weakly, "That can't be possible."

Wyatt made a move in her direction to comfort her, but Lucy flinched, backing away from him. Wyatt instantly froze in his movement. This was the first time Lucy rejected him so obviously. Usually she welcomed any form of physical contact from him, no matter if it was him taking her hand to help her climb over some obstacles, or when he drew her in for a hug to express his joy or sorrow. She also always let him buckle her in when they were about to jump with the lifeboat, even though both of them knew that it was unnecessary. Hell, she even didn't shy away when he kissed her back in 1934. Granted, that was just for show, but she _did_ participate, kissing him back with the same force that he kissed her.

And now, that she needed him most, no, that _he_ needed _her_ most, he corrected himself, she backed away, leaving him hanging, and rather chose to hug herself instead.

Wyatt didn't have much time to dwell on this though, as the door at the end of the corridor opened again, and Florence came running towards them.

"Mommy!" she exclaimed, when she reached them, making an attempt to hug Lucy as well.

"Can you…?" Lucy stammered, pointing at Florence, "I have to…"

"Sure," Wyatt mumbled, devastated by her reaction. As soon as the word has passed his lips, Lucy turned around and fled to the sanctuary of her bedroom. Feeling lost, Wyatt looked after her for a moment, then he crouched down in front of Florence, "Hey baby girl," he smiled, drawing the bewildered child a little closer.

"Mommy crying," Florence told Wyatt, pointing at the closed door, behind which Lucy had disappeared, before expectantly looking up at him.

"I know," he whispered, brushing his lips against her forehead in a soothing manner before picking her up. "God, you look so much like Lucy," he groaned, stroking one finger along her cheek. And once again he was overwhelmed by his feelings for Lucy and Florence, and this unsatisfied desire to actually call this little family his own.

He hugged the little girl tighter against his chest, finally getting the comfort that Lucy had denied him just seconds ago. The mere thought that their appearance in this timeline might have cost their unborn child's life made Wyatt violently sick. The last time he had felt a similar dread was when Jessica went missing.

But unlike that time, there was something or rather someone that instantly made him feel better. When Florence put her little arms around his neck to hug him back, Wyatt calmed down immediately. It didn't make the dread he felt since finding the nursery go away completely, but it definitely helped.

xxx

For the second time this day, Lucy felt like someone had punched her in the guts. She couldn't breath. There was a huge lump in her throat that made no attempt to go away, no matter how hard she swallowed, and it made taking breaths awfully painful.

And even though she knew that there was nothing she could have done to prevent this, she felt like she had failed them, the Wyatt and Lucy of this timeline, and the child they possibly had been expected. It's not like she had chosen to come here, or that she herself had lost the child, but she couldn't help feeling responsible. She closed her eyes and once again wished for the welcoming unconscious that only a deep sleep could provide, but she knew that it wouldn't come so easily this time around. Her hurting heart and the huge lump in her throat made sure of that.

Lucy had no idea how long she had been lying there, trying not to think while she hoped for the relief of falling asleep, when she heard a light knock on the door.

Before she could make up her mind, if she wanted Wyatt to come in, or not, the door opened and he quietly walked over to her. He didn't say a word, and Lucy didn't look up to indicate that she had heard him, or that she even wanted him to be here. That didn't seem to detain Wyatt though. Silently, he sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

Lucy held her breath in anticipation what he was going to do next. She didn't have to wait long as well. After a while of simply sitting there, and most likely observing her, she felt his hand on her arm, tenderly stroking it up and down.

"This is not your fault, Lucy!" he said quietly but definite.

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that I feel like it is," she replied, astounded that the lump in her throat actually allowed the words to pass.

"Yah," Wyatt agreed, "Feels pretty shitty to be us right now, doesn't it?" He didn't seem to expect an answer to this statement, so Lucy didn't even attempt to give him one.

"I just don't get it," she said after a while, at last turning around to face Wyatt. "We replaced them, right?"

Wyatt nodded, stopping his caress of her arm, but never removing his hand completely while he waited for her to continue.

"So why couldn't I …," she trailed off, unable to voice her thoughts out loud in his presence.

Wyatt frowned at her, trying to follow her train of thoughts, and then it suddenly hit him, "Are you wondering why you couldn't have … I don't know … continue the pregnancy of sorts?"

"Forget about it," Lucy said hurriedly, facing away from him again with flaming cheeks, "That was a stupid idea."

"No, it is not stupid," Wyatt objected, squeezing her arm in sympathy. "Just even more freakish than suddenly having a child that neither of us had any part in conceiving."

Lucy swallowed hard, if he put it like that, it was indeed freakish to have Florence, but it didn't feel that way. At least not anymore.

"You _aren't_ pregnant, are you?" Wyatt suddenly asked, his voice sounding a little higher and kind of scratchy.

"No I, uhm…," again, Lucy couldn't finish the sentence, sharing details about her menstrual cycle with him was way too personal. "I'm definitely not pregnant," she emphasized instead, leaving out the specifics.

Wyatt cleared his throat before he started to speak this time, "You sure? Maybe you should take a test or something."

"I'm sure Wyatt!" Lucy cut him short.

"Good," he sighed appeased, causing Lucy to flinch at his obvious relief. It made sense, she knew that, having one child was making their unexpected relationship complicated enough already so they absolutely didn't need the extra pressure of an out-of-the-blue pregnancy, but it still hurt. Once again she felt rejected by him, no matter how understandable his reaction was. A new batch of tears threatened to gush out of her eyes and Lucy tried to wipe them away without Wyatt noticing. She had no such luck so.

"That still doesn't make it better, does it?" he asked tentatively, gently rubbing her arm in a soothing manner once again. "I'm not going to lie, Lucy, I'm glad that we don't have to deal with a mysterious pregnancy on top of everything else, but…" he choked, and Lucy was surprised to see some tears glistening in his eyes as well, "It still feels like we lost it, doesn't it?" he continued scarcely audible.

Lucy didn't answer, but she reached for the hand that was still stroking her arm, and hold on to it tightly. Then she gave in to the hollow feeling and let her tears run freely while her body shook in rhythm with her sobs. In her sorrow, she hardly noticed when Wyatt adjusted his position on her bed, now sitting right next to her, his back supported by the headboard and his legs stretched out in front of him. Then he pulled her closer so that her head was rested on his right arm now instead of the pillow. Lucy could feel his warmth, radiating from his legs and torso, where they touched her backside.

x

At some point they both must have drifted off to sleep, because when Lucy startled awake again a couple of hours later, it was already getting dark outside.

With a jolt, she sat up in bed, causing Wyatt to jerk out of his slumber as well.

"Florence," Lucy gasped out in horror, with her mind's eye seeing her little broken body lying at the bottom of the stairs.

"Relax!" Wyatt said, drawing her back into his arms, "She was pretty beat, so I put her down for a nap before I came in here to check up on you. I guess the events of this day took a toll on her as well, even though I don't think she understands any of this. Then again that might exactly be the reason why she was so exhausted," he added guiltily.

For a moment, Lucy sank back into his arms, but then she moved away again, "Still, we better look after her," she said, already getting of the bed. "And it is probably about time that she gets something to eat as well."

Lucy practically ran the short distance to Florence room with Wyatt right behind her. They both came to a stop in the open door, mesmerised by the sight of their little girl.

Florence wasn't asleep anymore, but was entertaining herself by reading a book to her stuffed animals. She was mumbling incoherent words, some probably made up as well, but her audience didn't seem to mind at all. She was so absorbed in her story that she didn't notice her parents standing in the doorway, admiring her so openly. Neither Wyatt nor Lucy had heard her say so many words before, and certainly not in a row.

The spell was broken when Lucy couldn't keep away from her any longer. As soon as Florence saw her, she let go of the book and stood up. "Mommy!" she greeted Lucy, stretching her arms out to her. Lucy immediately picked her up and placed a huge kiss onto her cheek, making the child giggle.

Then she turned back around to Wyatt. He leaned with crossed arms against the doorframe and watched the scene in front of him with a huge smile, "I told you she would be fine," he said casually, but Lucy was sure that he had been a little worried for a moment as well.

"Are you hungry?" Lucy asked Florence and the little girl nodded eagerly. "That is good, because _daddy_ ," she glanced up at Wyatt when she said that, "is going to make us a very delicious dinner."

"Is he now?" Wyatt grinned, playing along, "That is fortunate because I'm desperate to finally meet that guy, so that I can give him a piece of my mind."

"Not funny, Wyatt," Lucy said scandalised, giving him a scowl.

xxx

"So what are you going to do," Lucy asked, putting Florence in her high chair, "About Jessica I mean," she clarified at his frown.

"I have no idea," Wyatt admitted, looking through the cabinets to determine what he should make for dinner. "I was trying to think about it when I …," he trailed off. Of course not speaking about it didn't make it go away, but at least for tonight, he didn't want to think about the nursery upstairs any longer.

Lucy nodded in understanding, knowing exactly what he didn't dare to say out loud.

"Anyway," Wyatt continued, "For now I'm not going to do anything. I really want to see her but … I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do then, so …" He was interrupted by the door bell.

"We are about to prepare dinner, so it must be Rufus," Wyatt speculated, actually coaxing a little smile from Lucy with that comment. "We seriously should consider giving him a set of keys."

x

Wyatt opened the door and froze on the spot, staring thunderstruck at the man in front of him. Instinctively he reached for his gun, but the place beneath his arm, where he was usually wearing a holster, was empty.

"Hi Wyatt," the man greeted. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

"Give me one good reason why I should do that?" Wyatt said through clenched teeth, blocking the doorway with his body as best as he could.

The man frowned at him. "What is the matter? Have I done anything wrong?"

"Are you seriously asking _**me**_ that?" Wyatt sneered.

"What is going on here," Lucy asked, squeezing in next to Wyatt into the open door, and immediately went pale. "What are you doing here?"

"What am I? … Seriously? … You are not telling me that you are still angry with me because of last week, are you?" the man sighed. "Look, I already told you that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to forget to babysit her, honestly, I just had so much going on at work that it completely slipped my mind. Or do you honestly think that I would give up the opportunity to spend some quality time with my granddaughter on purpose?"


	12. Estranged

**A new year and a new chapter! Happy 2019 everyone!**

* * *

 **12\. Estranged**

Wyatt immediately put his arm around Lucy and drew her protectively against his body as he felt her trembling beside him.

"Since I'm already here, can I at least say hello to Florence?" Benjamin Cahill had the nerve to ask.

"Sorry," Wyatt said tensely, "She is already in bed."

Ben frowned at them, irritated, "Alright then," he said, sounding disappointed, "But we are still on for Saturday, aren't we Wyatt?"

Wyatt felt a cold chill run down his spine, and he instinctively tightened his grip on Lucy's shoulder. "I wouldn't count on it," he said in a surprisingly steadfast voice.

"Oh, okay," Ben said, now actually looking sad, "Well, um, give me a call if you change your mind. I'll save you a seat just in case."

Wyatt gave him a curt nod, acknowledging the offer without actually accepting it.

When Benjamin Cahill finally turned to leave, Wyatt swallowed hard before he let go of the breath that he didn't even realise, he had been holding. Simultaneously Lucy gasped beside him, and Wyatt was pretty sure that she too had stopped breathing for the time being.

"What was that all about?" he asked her in a low voice. Lucy's shoulders twitched beneath his arm, indicating that she was shrugging helplessly.

They silently watched after the man who was co-responsible for all their hassle and heartbreak ever since all of this started so many months ago, never taking their eyes off of him to make sure that he was truly leaving. It so happened that they were so focused on his retreating form that they didn't notice the other car pulling up in front of their house.

"Was that … it was, wasn't it?" Rufus uttered startled, stumbling towards them, constantly looking and pointing back over his shoulder to the place where Benjamin Carhill's car had been parked just seconds ago. "Scary Rittenhouse dude?"

"Yup," Wyatt confirmed dryly, "That was grandpa Ben."

"Don't call him that," Lucy said annoyed, disengaging herself from his hold on her by shoving him lightly into the side. "I don't want him to be connected to our daughter in any way."

Wyatt opted to not respond to that. She was right of course, if he had a say in it, he wouldn't want his little girl linked to that bastard either, but the undeniable truth was that neither Lucy, nor Florence would exist without him, and for that fact alone, he was glad that guy existed as well. But he wasn't stupid enough to mention any of this to Lucy right now.

"What did he want?" Rufus asked, directing their focus back to the more urgent task at hand.

"Actually, we don't know," Wyatt shrugged, "He just turned up here out of the blue and caught us completely off guard."

"And you just let him go?" Rufus asked surprised, frowning at them in disbelief. "I thought we were trying to find him to get information."

Wyatt fixed his eyes on him, silently trying to tell him to shut up, but of course Rufus didn't get the message.

"What?" he asked bewildered. "Stop keeping me in the dark," he demanded, "Just because you two are so cosy all of a sudden, playing house and such, doesn't mean you can leave me out, you know? Maybe you don't remember, but this team is supposed to consist of three people, which includes me by the way, and not just the two of you."

Wyatt sighed deeply in frustration. He really had neither the nerves nor the time to deal with Rufus' streak of jealously, or his feeling of abandonment, or whatever the hell it was that was bugging him at the moment. "Rufus…," he groaned exasperated.

"We are not hiding anything," Lucy intervened, sounding just as tense. "I just… I can't deal with _him_ right now, okay?" she said exhausted before she faintly added, "It's too much.

It was the truth, but still didn't reveal anything that would have made Rufus suspicious, or could urge him to question them further.

"Right," Rufus acknowledged her excuses abashed. "I'm sorry Lucy, I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine," she said, drawing him in for a hug. "Another time, okay?" she mumbled against his shoulder.

xxx

Lucy was eerily quiet throughout dinner, and Wyatt was more than worried about her. Of course he knew what was wrong with her first hand, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that Lucy had an even harder time dealing with all of this than he had, though he had no idea how that was even possible.

Or was he perhaps all too used to this kind of dread by now that he meanwhile simply had learned to live with it? He didn't know for sure, but he could have done without the growing concern for her wellbeing on top of everything else.

Considering everything that had happened that day, it wasn't surprising that neither of them was paying attention to Rufus who tried his best to lighten the mood by telling some silly stories that probably would have been surprisingly funny if they had been receptible for them. But instead, Wyatt caught himself ever so often wishing that Rufus would finally go home.

"I'm sorry, Rufus," Lucy said immediately after they were finished with dinner. "Would you please excuse me, I'm not feeling so well tonight."

"Yeah sure," Rufus said sympathetically, returning the short hug that Lucy gave him before she picked up Florence and left them.

x

"Come on then, spill it," Rufus demanded as soon as Lucy was gone. "Who died?"

"What?" Wyatt choked out alarmed, his head shooting up to fix his gaze on Rufus. There was no way he could know this.

"Relax," Rufus said taken aback, "I mean what is going on with you and Lucy?"

"I don't know what you mean," Wyatt said promptly, avoiding his scrutinizing stare as best as he could.

"Yeah right," Rufus huffed, "I'm aware that I'm known to tell bad jokes on occasion, but I've been actually on a roll tonight, but the two of you just sat there straightfaced without moving even the tiniest risible muscle all throughout dinner. It was kind of attending a funeral meal to be honest. So I'm asking you again, what is going on?"

"Jessica is back," Wyatt revealed at once, hoping that would be enough for Rufus, because there was no way he was going to tell him about the nursery upstairs. That was solely between Lucy and him.

"Jessica?" Rufus asked astounded, "As in your wife Jessica? The one we tried to safe in 1983?"

"Uhm, yes! Who else could I mean?" Wyatt frowned at the strange question, but then he remembered what Rufus had told him about the changes he had witnessed in Jiya after their missions. "Well, at least I think so. I haven't actually met her yet," he admitted, "But I've seen a picture."

"And you are sure that she…" Rufus didn't say it out loud, but the way he was looking at Wyatt finished the sentence for him.

"Is alive?" Wyatt asked anyway, and when Rufus nodded he continued, "Yes I am. Lucy met her the day we came back, actually. Obviously she didn't realise who she was right away, at least not until we found the pictures earlier today, but yeah, it is true. She is alive."

"Okay, now I get why Lucy is upset," Rufus said knowingly. "But why are you acting like the end of the world is upon you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what you always wanted, isn't it?"

Wyatt frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

"What I… Are you serious right now? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was _you,_ who stole the damn lifeboat and risked everything to get her back, wasn't it?" Rufus almost shouted, utterly baffled by Wyatt's question.

"What? No! THAT is so not the point here," Wyatt said impatiently, "I want to know what you meant by _this would make Lucy upset_?"

"Oh come on you know," Rufus sneered.

"Know what?"

"Seriously? I always thought guys like you would have a sixth sense for this kind of thing," Rufus remarked, slightly disillusioned.

"Guys like me? What the hell are you taking about Rufus?" Wyatt growled annoyed. He definitely wasn't in the mood for riddles tonight.

"I'm talking about Lucy having a huge crush on you, you idiot," Rufus sniggered, now highly amused by Wyatt's cluelessness.

For a moment Wyatt stared at him with his mouth hanging open, trying to understand the meaning behind this revelation, but then he came to his senses again. "No!" he said decisive, shaking his head vehemently, "You are wrong. I know for a fact that this isn't true."

Now it was Rufus time to look flabbergasted.

"What makes you think she has a crush on me anyway?" Wyatt suddenly demanded to know, partly out of curiosity if there was indeed something to Rufus' assumption, and partly angry at him for getting his hopes up again that Lucy could actually feel more for him than plain friendship.

"Well, uhm, you know," Rufus stammered taken aback before he lamely suggested, "The way she looks at you?"

At first Wyatt stared at him astounded, but then he suddenly gave a short snort at this nonsense. If that was all Rufus could come up with to support his theory, then it was nothing. Wyatt knew _that_ look all too well. Lucy had the gift to make the person at the receiving end feel special with it. He knew that first hand, but unfortunately it wasn't solely reserved for him. Everyone could get a dose of it if they were kind enough, or genuine with her, or simply able to catch her interest for a while.

"That is …," he trailed off and shook his head at the absurdity of Rufus' conjecture. "Trust me, Rufus, I _would_ know if she was interested in me _that_ way," he said smugly, "Which is so not the case with Lucy."

It was obvious that Rufus didn't believe him, but maybe it wasn't such a bad thing if he continued to think that Lucy was upset because of Jessica. Then at least he wouldn't grill him any further for another explanation regarding her strange behaviour this evening.

"Anyway," Rufus relented, finally dropping the subject, "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," Wyatt said, though he wasn't feeling happy at all at the moment. He knew he should be. In fact, he should thank his lucky stars and be overwhelmed with joy that his wife was back, but instead he felt horrible. He probably could blame it on the empty nursery upstairs, but that would be a lie. He had already felt that way before he found it. His guild about his respective feelings for Jessica and for Lucy was eating him up alive. It felt almost like he was betraying both of them even though he hadn't done anything wrong yet.

x

After Rufus had left, Wyatt lingered for a while in front of Lucy's door, uncertain if he should knock, or better leave her alone. He listened with baited breath if he could hear anything from inside, indicating that she was still awake, but everything remained quiet.

So eventually Wyatt reluctantly turned away from the door. If Lucy needed him, she knew where she could find him.

After making a detour to the bathroom, he decided to quickly check up on Florence, almost wishing that the little girl wasn't asleep yet and maybe even wanted to spend the night on the couch with him again. He certainly wouldn't mind the distraction.

But Florence's bed was empty, and Wyatt knew without doubt that someone else had had the same idea as him. Though he was disappointed at first that he wouldn't be able to have the comfort of his daughter tonight, the discovery was also surprisingly soothing, and it made Wyatt feel like a heavy burden was lifted off of him. If Florence was able to help Lucy forget her sorrows at least for a little while, than he was entirely grateful for it.

xxx

Lucy woke up the next morning when she felt two pointy knees drilling sharply into her lower stomach. And before she knew it, they already moved up her body, leaving a trail of sore spots behind them wherever they touched ground. It wasn't exactly hurtful, but unpleasant enough to make her wince once or twice.

Lucy was about to reach out for the child attached to the pointy knees, to stop her before she could maltreat the even more sensitive area of her chest, when Florence decided to do a belly flop on top of her. Highly amused, Lucy pretended to be asleep a while longer until she felt a pair of tiny hands cupping her cheeks and lightly pressing them together. Grinning, Lucy slowly opened her eyes and was greeted by a set of blue eyes.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she whispered, wrapping her arms around the tiny body her daughter and drew her even closer.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" she murmured into the child's soft curls, deeply inhaling her scent.

"No," Florence replied, shaking her head.

"Well, I do!" Lucy smiled, tickling Florence's belly.

"NO!" the little girl shouted with glee as she tried to push Lucy's hands away.

"Yes, yes, yes," Lucy insisted, kissing both her cheeks repeatedly, making the little girl giggle uncontrollably.

At last, they both were out of breath and Lucy cradled Florence against herself once more, softly stroking the wisps of hair out of her face before she traced a finger along her cheek down to her jaw.

"Daddy!" Florence suddenly announced, sitting up, and pointed towards the closed door.

Immediately a warmth spread through Lucy. She didn't think she would ever get tired of hearing _her_ daughter refer to _Wyatt_ as her 'daddy'.

She knew, she was only living on borrowed time now that his former wife was back, but sometime during the night, she had decided that she would cherish every second she had left of him living by her side.

It was pathetic, and perhaps even a little creepy, but she would soak up every tiny peace of family bliss that she could still get before it all was over for good.

She wouldn't fight for him though. She might be pathetic, yes, but not desperate yet. A small amount of dignity was still left, and she intended to keep it. Thus there was no way she was going to fight a battle that she knew she couldn't win.

If she had even the tiniest bit of hope that she could have a chance with him, that he might choose her in the end, then yes. Then she would fight with tooth and nail for him, for them, for their little family. But that wasn't the case. She couldn't even count the times anymore that he had made it perfectly clear that Jessica was the love of his life and that it would be worth to risk _anything_ to get her back. And she had to accept it…

But not yet! In this very moment he was still here. There was a short period of grace left for her and she would accept it happily.

"Do you want to go and see if daddy is already awake?" Lucy asked, letting her hand run through Florence's hair once again, smoothing out the knots that had formed there during their cuddling.

Florence nodded enthusiastically and immediately started crawling away from her. Lucy hurried to get off the bed and snatched her up before she reached the end.

x

Wyatt was already up and about, cleaning up the mess from their dinner the night before.

"Morning, daddy!" Florence called out as soon as she saw him. Wyatt whirled around and a huge grin appeared on his face when he walked towards them.

"Good morning to you to, Miss Florence," he said rather formal, taking her out of Lucy's arms to plant a huge kiss on her cheek. "And you too, Lucy," he whispered before he leaned over to brush a chaste kiss on her cheek as well.

Startled by his actions, Lucy jerked away and stared at him with wide eyes. Whatever she had expected to happen this morning, it certainly wasn't this. The spot on her cheek where his lips had touched her was glowing hot. And she could feel a swarm of butterflies making somersaults in her stomach.

"Uhm, sorry," Wyatt mumbled hastily, looking just as shocked as she was. "I didn't mean to do that."

Of course he didn't, Lucy thought disenchanted. It probably had just been a reflex or something like that.

"It's okay," Lucy shrugged nonchalantly, forcing a smile on her lips. "I've survived worse from you than a kiss on the cheek," she hinted, hoping that he too would remember the banter after their kiss in 1934.

"Very funny," he growled. "I'm pretty sure you are the only person on this planet who thinks my kisses are lethal."

 _Not quite_ , Lucy thought heatedly, _I think they are to die for_. But of course she didn't voice this aloud, no matter how much she wanted to say it, especially as he looked a little hurt at the moment.

"But you like my kisses, don't you?" Wyatt asked Florence, touching his lips gently to her forehead.

"No!" Florence giggled, leaning away from him.

"Here," Wyatt said soberly, handing Florence back to Lucy, "I think I'm done with the Preston girls for the time being."

Lucy frowned at him in surprise, wondering if he truly was offended now, or if he was only pretending to be. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. "Preston girls?" she therefore asked him placably, "Actually, I'm pretty sure she is a Logan."

"You think so?" Wyatt asked, the smile returning to his face.

"Positive!"

"So what about you then? Am I at least still good enough to make you breakfast?" he wanted to know, raising an eyebrow at her in question.

"You know, I'd love to get some breakfast from you," Lucy replied, grinning happily.

x

He sounded surprisingly chirpy during their meal, telling her some anecdotes about his time at Pendleton, but one look at his face, and Lucy was sure that he too had had an awful night with hardly any sleep.

In a very twisted manner, it felt good that she wasn't alone in this, that the previous day had affected him as well. It was perverse, but this realisation actually made her feel more connected to him. Shared sorrows, Lucy felt the urge to laugh. What a cruel way to link them together.

She chanced a furtive glance over at Wyatt, wondering if he was up for a more serious conversation. So far both of them had avoided talking about anything that had happened the day before, almost as if by not mentioning it, they could make it go away.

That was a fallacy of course. In fact, not even the possibility of getting their hands on one of the time machines would be of any help now. The heartache wouldn't simply vanish even if they managed to change the timeline for the better. The memories of seeing the empty nursery would still be there, ineluctably etched into their minds.

"I was thinking," Lucy started slowly, "If the other Lucy had been pregnant in this timeline, then why hasn't anyone mentioned this yet? I mean I certainly don't look pregnant, do I?"

Wyatt's gaze automatically wandered to her midsection, as if checking out the likelihood of her passing as pregnant woman, and Lucy immediately felt insecure, protectively crossing her arms in front of stomach.

"Maybe you weren't showing yet," he speculated, reluctantly averting his eyes again.

"Fine, let's say that was the case," Lucy went along, glad that his focus wasn't any longer on her body, "But then why did we already set up the nursery? Isn't that considered to be bad luck or something?"

"Yeah, well, it certainly didn't end lucky," Wyatt remarked dryly. To the untrained ear that would have sounded offensive, but Lucy knew him so well by now that she could also detect the pain he was trying to hide with snide comments like that.

"I don't believe this," she said therefore, shaking her head vehemently. "There must be another reason for the nursery."

"Lucy, I get it, I too would love to find out that there is another explanation for all of this, but I … I just don't think that is the case," he said tersely.

"But…," Lucy started, but Wyatt immediately cut her off. "No, Lucy, stop it, please. At least for the time being," he begged. "I get that we have to talk about this eventually, but not today, okay?" He didn't even wait for her reply but hastened to stand up to take care of their dirty dishes.

"Okay," Lucy mumbled, feeling rejected. It was not that she couldn't understand his desire to avoid this topic, but she needed to talk about this to be able to deal with the situation, regardless what the outcome would be, and it hurt that he was denying her the opportunity to get some closure by withdrawing from her.

xxx

In the end, they hardly talked at all that day and even tried to avoid each other as much as possible. Right after breakfast, Lucy retreated with Florence into the little girl's room, and Wyatt was too apprehensive to join them.

It was like a void had opened up between them, and with each passing minute, they drifted further away from each other. And Wyatt hated it.

He truly hadn't intended to kiss her this morning, but her reaction had told him everything he needed to know. Rufus had been utterly wrong. There was no way Lucy was interested in him romantically. He had tried to play it down of course, even acted like it hadn't bothered him, but her reaction to his rather innocent kiss had been devastating.

Lucy didn't want him, period. So at least this knowledge solved one of his problems. He didn't have to feel guilty any longer for his still existing feelings for Jess. He probably should focus on getting her back from now on. In fact he should have done that yesterday already, right after he found out that she was alive in this timeline.

Now that he had certainty that Lucy didn't reciprocate his feelings, he felt silly for having them in the first place. It should have been obvious to him. How on earth had he ever been able to confuse Lucy's kindness towards him with anything more than friendship? After all, wasn't that what he had told Rufus the previous night? That he saw things that weren't there because it simply was Lucy's personality to be attentive and complaisant to anyone? But as it turned out, he had done the exact same thing, misinterpreting her friendship by projecting feelings of love onto himself that never had been there to begin with.

He was still in shock due to that realisation, but he was glad that at least he hadn't been so stupid to act on his budding love for her on top of everything else. As far as he could tell there wasn't any lasting damage done yet, so as long as he could control those unwanted feelings for her, maybe even quell them a tad, there was no reason why they shouldn't be able to stay friends. After all, ruining this friendship with her was not an option, not only because they still had a child together, but also because he couldn't bear the thought of losing her completely.

xxx

Rufus had called them about an hour ago, informing them that he wouldn't come to dinner today, so Lucy was more than surprised when the door bell rang late in the afternoon. Instantly her thoughts turned back to the previous night and a cold chill run down her spine. Everything in her screamed to call out for Wyatt, but her pride wouldn't allow her to actually follow through with it. If there indeed was something to be worried about, she could still call him then, Lucy assured herself when she went towards the door to answer it.

This didn't stop her though to throw a hopeful look up the staircase, willing him to appear there on his own.

The door bell rang a second time, startling Lucy in the process. Sighing deeply, she determined squared her shoulders and yanked the door open.

"Jessica!?" Lucy gasped out in surprise, staring baffled at the woman in front of the door.

"Lucy!" she echoed in the same manner, looking sternly. But then she started to laugh and drew Lucy into a hug. Perplexed, Lucy returned the hug only half-heartedly, too shocked by her appearance in general, and the affectionate greeting in particular.

"What's wrong?" Jessica wanted to know when she backed away again, still smiling, but now a little unsure. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I … uh," Lucy was lost for words, in a way it was _precisely_ like that, but then she quickly regained her composure and replied, "Not at all, I'm just surprised to see you here."

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked bewildered. "It's Thursday afternoon, isn't it?"

"Uhm, yah," Lucy confirmed, clueless what that had to do with anything.

"And you guys are still on for date night, aren't you?"

"Oh, uhm, sure," Lucy agreed absentmindedly, wondering what Jessica meant by that exactly. "That is, not tonight. I'm sorry, we should have called you."

"You are not having a fight, have you?" Jessica now asked concerned, eying Lucy intently.

"No," Lucy replied truthfully. Granted, things _were_ at odds between them at the moment, but she wouldn't necessarily call it a fight. "We are just not in the mood tonight."

x

Wyatt was just giving Florence her bath when he heard voices from downstairs. Lucy was talking to someone. At first he thought Rufus had come by after all, but then he froze on the spot when he recognized the other person's voice.

His torpor only lasted a few seconds before he came back to his senses. In one quick motion he snatched Florence up, splashing water all over the floor. Hastily, he wrapped a towel around her and sped out of the bathroom.

Clattering down the stairs, he only just heard Lucy say, "He … he is fine, just a little overworked and tired," then, noticing him out of the corner of her eyes, she hastened to add an "I'll call you later," before she shoved her collocutor out, and quickly shut the door into their face.

"Who was that?" Wyatt asked breathless when he reached her. "Was that… I mean, it kind of sounded like Jess…," he probed with a sheepish half-smile, feeling foolish now for even thinking this. If it indeed had been Jessica, Lucy wouldn't have shoved her out of the door just like that, right?

Clearly caught off guard, Lucy wheeled around and stared at him, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide, giving her a guilty, almost even fearful expression.

"Lucy?" he asked, suspiciously narrowing his eyes at her.

"I… uhm, yes," Lucy decided to be honest with him. "It was Jessica, but I asked her to leave, because …"

"What the hell, Lucy?" Wyatt shouted angrily, handing her the dripping child so he could wrench the door open.

"Wyatt, wait!" Lucy protested quickly, grabbing his arm to hinder him from following Jessica, but he forcefully wrested it out of her grip and left the house.

"She is gone, Lucy, GONE!" Wyatt shouted at her when he came back in a few minutes later, slamming the door shut behind him. "Are you happy now?"

"Wyatt…," Lucy pleaded faintly, putting Florence down so that the child wouldn't be stuck between them during an argument.

"This was my wife just now, Lucy, and you knew that perfectly well, but you let her go anyway," he said in a dangerously low voice, glaring at Lucy in a way that made her flinch. "Did it even _once_ occur to you to call me?"

To his astonishment, Lucy suddenly crossed her arms in front of her chest in a defiant manner and glared back at him. "Did that occur to me?" she asked angrily, "Yes, Wyatt, it did, imagine that. But if I had, then what would you have done?" she challenged, looking at him expectantly.

"I …,"

"Yes?"

"I don't know, okay?" he flared, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Exactly!" Lucy shouted back. "You first have to think this through, Wyatt. You can't just jump at her, for heaven's sake. You have no idea what has happened between the two of you. Who says that she even remembers a life with you? And who knows, maybe you've never been married in this timeline."

"That is bull shit, she is my wife!" Wyatt declared stubbornly, shaking his head in refusal to even think about such a possibility.

 _WAS!_ Lucy corrected him fiercely in her mind, though she didn't dare to say it aloud. But if Wyatt had paid any closer attention to her in that moment, he would have heard her silent scream anyway. Her feelings were written all over face in a painful clarity, the anguish, the longing, her compassion.

But Wyatt was in no condition to notice any of this. He was on the verge of getting frantic, and there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't want to hear anything resembling objectivity right now. Especially not from Lucy.

"You had no right to make that decision for me," he said after a while, sounding calmer again, but just as harsh.

"You are right," Lucy agreed, hastily brushing a tear away that had formed in the corner of her eye. "That's why I asked her to come back tomorrow."

"You what?" Wyatt asked surprised, not sure if he had heard her correctly.

"That should give you at least a little time to prepare yourself for that meeting," Lucy hurried to further explain her actions, "I also promise that Florence and I won't be here then, so it will be just you and her, to do whatever it is you need to do."

Wyatt stared at her taken aback, all his anger gone all of a sudden.

"Lucy I …," Wyatt whispered remorseful, trying to reach out for her, but Lucy only shook her head and stepped away from him so that his hand grasped at nothing before he slowly let it drop to his side again.

"Please, just leave me alone, Wyatt!" Lucy pleaded tiredly, walking over to their daughter, who was still completely naked except for the towel that was still messily wrapped around her. She gingerly picked her up and hugged her close to her chest, muttering soothing words of comfort to the upset looking child.

xxx

Wyatt felt awful. How could he ever have doubted Lucy like that? Of course she wouldn't let Jessica go without a reason. A sound reason too, for that matter. If she hadn't interfered, he probably would have made a complete fool of himself.

He really had to stop projecting his own flawed character on the people around him, first of all on Lucy. Just because he would have slammed the door into a certain doctor's face if he had dared to show up here, didn't automatically mean that Lucy would do the same.

On the contrary actually, as it had turned out. In fact, for her to do something like that would firstly require her having deeper feelings for him, which she didn't, as he had to find out for sure this very morning.

This realisation made the hurt more prominent once again. Of course he knew that he couldn't have them both, so maybe it was for the best that Lucy wasn't even an option any longer. Still, finding out that he had been so wrong about their mutual attraction sucked. He seriously had thought on several occasions that he and Lucy could have a future together, and then, being thrown into this timeline had made this possibility blissfully real all of a sudden.

After the initial shock had faded away, he truly had enjoyed himself in this role as the husband of Lucy Preston and the father of her child.

At least he still would have Florence, he consoled himself. There was no way he would give _her_ up, not now that he finally got his head out of his arse and was able to fully accept her as his daughter.

As for Lucy, he knew it would be hard staying friends with her. He already dreaded the day she would find someone else to share her life with, but it there was nothing he could do to prevent this. Their life together was over.

At first he didn't notice them, but then he became aware of the tears that were running down his cheeks. He huffed at the discovery, hastily brushing them away. What a sissy he was. Furthermore, he had absolutely no right to shed tears due to the agony of unrequited love.

Matter-of-factly, he shouldn't even feel this way about her to begin with. Not when the very real possibility of getting Jess back was just around the corner, but he couldn't help it. And so he decided to give in to his feelings for Lucy one last time, mourning all his crashed hopes and dreams of a joint future with her.

* * *

 _This was actually just the first half of a much longer chapter, but then I realised that it probably would be better to split it up. I make no promises, but hopefully the second half doesn't take me that long now to finish. And, minor spoiler alert, after these last couple of rather gloomy chapters, things are going to look up again soon! I promise._

 _Anyway, in the meantime I would love to hear from you. I don't think I say this often enough, but I appreciate every one of you that reviews, follows, favourites, or simply reads my story! I'm writing this mainly for my own entertainment, but your constant support definitely keeps me going, so thank you!_


	13. New Perspectives

**Hello there! Sorry, once again it took me longer than I thought it would to finish the chapter, but it also once again turned longer than I expected, lol. So maybe that makes up for the wait.**

 **Before you start, I would like to remind you that I began working on this story before the end of season 1 aired, so I didn't know back then that Carol Preston was going to be Rittenhouse too.  
**

 **Oh and I want you to think about picture-Jessica from season one when you read this, the one that would be horrifed when she knew what Wyatt had done to get her back, instead of doing this and worse without blinking an eye, like her evil namesake from season 2.**

* * *

 **13\. New Perspectives**

Wyatt spent the night torn between eager anticipation and gnawing doubts. He couldn't wait to see Jessica, to be able to talk to her, and hopefully even got to touch her again after all this time of absence.

But after the first wave of excitement was over, the doubts started to sink in. He hadn't wanted to hear Lucy's arguments the day before, but what if she was right? What if they've never been together in this timeline? Would she still be the Jessica he once knew and loved?

At around 5 am, he gave up on trying to catch any more sleep and turned the TV on to distract himself for a while. It was no use though, his brain simply wouldn't stop going through every possible scenario of his reunion with Jessica. It went from falling crying into each others arms, combined with desperate kisses, to fierce fights with a lot of shouting.

He could picture both extremes quite clearly as he had experienced both of them multiple times after returning home from his assignments. Sometimes even one after another in a very short span of time.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one who had trouble sleeping that night. Around 6 am, he was joined on the couch by an exhausted looking Lucy. They didn't say a word to each other, but somehow it wasn't even necessary. It was like their fight the day before never happened. Or perhaps more like they simultaneously had decided that it wasn't worth it to hold a grudge, so they actually spend the next hour in comfortably silence, staring at the screen in front of them without actually taking in what was on.

"Lucy, you don't have to do this, you know? Leaving the house I mean," Wyatt eventually said quietly, his voice a little hoarse from the lack of using it.

"I know," Lucy shrugged. "But I actually prefer not to be around when she is showing up here today."

Wyatt nodded absentmindedly before he suggested, "We could meet somewhere else instead. The park perhaps, or maybe a hotel or something."

"A hotel?" Lucy repeated with a mirthless snort. "Pretty obvious, wouldn't you agree?"

Wyatt frowned at her for a moment before he became aware what exactly he just had said, "That's so not what I meant," he hastened to rectify her assumption, blushing a little. "I seriously don't think _that_ is what is going to happen today."

Lucy gave him a look that made it clear that she didn't believe him, but apparently wasn't interested in discussing this particular subject any further. "Anyway," she said, "it would blow my cover story if you met somewhere else, so I suggest you simply stick to the plan now."

"Okay," Wyatt said uncomfortably. It bothered him to no end that Lucy was so okay with all of this. Of course there wasn't any reason for her to not be okay with it, but still. Why couldn't she be at least a little bit upset about the prospect that her fake husband was meeting another woman?

 _Because she doesn't care_ , the annoying voice in his head reminded him.

Annoyed, he told the voice to shut up and cleared his throat, "So what did you tell her then? Jessica I mean," he clarified even though it probably wasn't necessary.

"I asked her if she had time to help you baking cookies today," Lucy said impassive.

"You did what?" Wyatt asked alarmed.

"Well, uhm, I told her a dreadful story about promising my students that I would bring them cookies tomorrow, and, uh, I think it is a well-known secret by now that I'm useless in the kitchen, so I thought it would make sense to ask if she could help you instead," Lucy explained, shrugging apologetically, before adding sheepishly, "I also thought it would be innocent enough to not scare her off right away."

"And she agreed to that?" Wyatt asked unbelieving.

"Yeah, why wouldn't she?" Now it was Lucy's turn to frown at him.

"This is bad," Wyatt muttered instead of answering her question, got up from the couch, and started pacing restless back and forth while nervously running his hands through his hair. "So, so bad."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Lucy said bewildered, and slightly annoyed, "I didn't have much time to come up with something, and this was the first thing that came to my mind."

"Lucy, she is even worse in the kitchen than you are," Wyatt revealed exasperated, finally stopping his nervous behaviour, but leaving his maltreated hair in an unruly, roguish, and quite enticing mess.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Lucy asked dryly, raising an eyebrow at him, "Because if so, keep it coming, I could need a little pep talk right now."

Wyatt ignored her comment and stared blankly straight ahead. "She is going to burn the house down," he prophesied darkly.

xxx

Once more, Rufus spent his lunchtime in the cafeteria with Jiya. And it was great. They not only were finally on good terms again, but they also worked so well together that he sometimes forgot that this wasn't _his_ Jiya.

There actually had been a highly embarrassing moment, in which he hugged her in excitement when one of their tests went really well. He tried to shrug it off afterwards, as if it wasn't that big of a deal, like this was his kind of thing to do whenever he was delighted about something, but not once thought that he came off as cool and relaxed as he hoped he would.

It didn't matter though, because in this moment they were sitting opposite each other, lost in their own world, at one of the more secluded tables in the cafeteria, and talked about anything and everything, and Rufus loved every second of it.

Maybe that meant that the changes weren't that big after all, at least not when it came to people. It was a comforting thought, and made it easier for him to accept the fact that he most likely would never see the Jiya of his previous timeline ever again.

"That's Anthony Bruhl," Jiya suddenly whispered excited, pointing over to the very familiar figure of his former co-worker and friend. "Rumors are that he is the one that got chosen to pilot the ti… uh … the project," she deflected in the very last moment before spilling the beans to him. She smiled shyly for a moment and then tried to gloss her verbal slip over by quickly jabbering on, "He is supposed to be great, working very close with Mason, and everyone hopes that they are going to be assigned to his team one day."

"So when are you finally going to tell me what this big discovery is we are all working on?" Rufus probed, amused. Of course he knew how difficult it was when new colleagues joint the group and you were supposed to work with them, but never allowed to tell them anything. _Don't talk about the project without my permission!_ That was the very first thing Mason had drilled into him and Anthony when all of this started.

"Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you," Jiya replied as expected, but at least was looking very afflicted as she said it. It was a nice gesture, but even though he first and foremost was very proud at her for keeping the secret, Rufus still couldn't help feeling a tiny little bit upset that she didn't trust him enough to include him.

He resented himself for this, but despite knowing how wrong it was to feel this way, it was also still hard to endure that the one person that mattered the most to him, was also the one that didn't let him in on the secret, and in hindsight, this was his only excuse for the next sentence that came out of his mouth.

"Seriously?" he said with a forced smile, "I mean we have been working really close together, and I don't want to brag, but I think my input has been very useful so far…"

"Look," Jiya interrupted him before he could make a complete idiot of himself, "I get that you are upset about being left in the dark, but this isn't my decision to make. Mason decides if and when he is going to bring you into the loop, not me. I'm sorry."

Rufus pouted at that. He knew he shouldn't have gone down this road with her, but now it was too late, and it certainly didn't help being reprimanded by her like a defiant child.

"If it makes you feel any better, there are some of us who had to wait for months until they were found worthy enough for the big revelation, and hardly anyone was allowed to get that much inside in advance, that you already have," Jiya tried to console him. "Believe me when I tell you this, it's worth the wait! I mean it, you have no idea yet what you are being part of here, it's _mind-blowing_."

"Yeah," Rufus muttered under his breath, still a little sulky, "That is indeed one of the side-effects if you aren't careful."

Jiya frowned at him, "What was that?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly, but the damage was done. Their initial cheerfulness and the relaxed atmosphere between them were gone, replaced by hurt and disappointment on both sides.

"I know you are building a time-machine," Rufus suddenly blurted out when the silence became unbearable. It wasn't so much that he purposefully had decided to be honest with her, but rather that he couldn't continue deceiving her any longer.

"How do you know about that?" Jiya asked shocked, but also rather astounded. "Who told you? Mason?"

"No, actually I helped invent it," Rufus shrugged nonchalantly. Now that he already had started telling her the truth, he decided that he was going to be completely honest with her. And it felt so amazingly liberating that he wondered why he hadn't done it earlier. This was Jiya after all, he could trust her.

"Oh I see, Mason _did_ tell you then," she concluded, now sounding hurt. "So what was this all about just now? Some sort of test if _I_ could keep the secret?"

"No one told me, and it wasn't a test," Rufus said seriously, "I know this because I've already seen it in action."

"Yeah right," Jiya burst out laughing, "We are still miles away from finishing it. And to be honest, there are times when I don't think we are ever going to get it done. The technology is flawed, the math doesn't add up, it's against most laws of physic, and the prototype they've built sucks."

"There is a prototype?" Rufus inquired rather intrigued, even though he tried to sound not too excited.

"Yeah well, it's only an ugly, giant eyeball, quasi an empty vessel, with no technology whatsoever attached to it yet," Jiya shrugged, "I think Mason only had it build to reinstall our passion for working on it. No chance this thing is ever going to work for real."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rufus said, grinning mysteriously, "I know for a fact that it is going to work."

"Oh really?" Jiya asked amused, but sceptical. "What makes you so sure then?"

"I told you, I helped invent it," Rufus said, looking her straight into the eyes so that she knew that he was being serious.

"What do you even mean by that?" Jiya asked obviously rattled as she leaned closer to him, her voice just above a whisper now, giving it a conspiratorial touch. "Has Mason once before tried to build a time-machine?"

Rufus leaned back into his seat and smiled more broadly at her. "How about I take you to dinner and tell you all about it?" he asked slyly and uncharacteristically confident.

xxx

"So where are you going?" Wyatt asked casually as he watched Lucy scurry around the living room, picking and packing up things for herself and Florence that she most likely wouldn't even need. After all, she was only gone for a few hours, right?

"My mom's house," Lucy replied, cramming a second stuffed animal into her bag.

Wyatt grimaced at this, the mere thought of Carol Preston left a bitter taste in his mouth, and the fact that his girls were going to spend their afternoon with her didn't appeal to him at all, "Why?"

"To drop Florence off, before I have to go to my afternoon class," Lucy informed him without giving him more than a short glance.

"Your afternoon class?" Wyatt frowned, hearing this for the first time. "Why didn't you tell me that you have a class today?"

"I guess between vacant nurseries and returned dead wives, it must have slipped my mind," Lucy said snappish.

And just like that the guilt was back, like he was doing something wrong, or that everything that has happened to them since their last mission was entirely his fault. "Okay, fair enough, but your mother? Really?" he asked tormented.

"Where else should I leave her?" Lucy asked him sternly, facing him at last, "If I recall correctly, our _babysitter_ is going to be busy this afternoon."

Wyatt ignored the snide comment and simply replied, "You could leave her here with me, you know, _her father_!"

"Her father?" Lucy repeated surprised, returning to her excessive packing, probably to avoid further eye contact with him. "Is that what you are now?"

Wyatt sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, "I guess so. She has this annoying tendency of stealing your heart, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, she does," Lucy agreed softly, but then quickly returned to their previous conversation. "But there is no way I'm leaving her here," she made clear, "She might still be too young to fully comprehend what is going on, but I'll be damned if I let her witness how her _father_ makes out with the babysitter."

Wyatt visibly flinched at this rather colourful mental picture. It was crude, yes, but wasn't that exactly what he was hoping for? He bit his lower lip and looked apprehensively at Lucy. She was angry at him, he could tell, and if he didn't know any better, he would even think that she was jealous…

"Besides, I already told Florence that she is going to spend the afternoon with Amy," Lucy continued, sounding more conciliatory again, "And I think she is really looking forward to it. Thing is, Amy also happens to live at my mom's, so..."

"Right, but still!" Wyatt stressed, though he wasn't even sure what exactly bothered him so much about the fact that Lucy was going to her mother. It was the obvious choice, wasn't it?

"I won't tell her anything," Lucy said, surprisingly insightful. "What is going on here today remains between us, I promise."

Wyatt looked at her startled. Right, that is what was bothering him. Carol Preston would hear about this, confirming all her preconceptions about him. "Well," Wyatt said through gritted teeth, "It's not like this is going to be a secret much longer now, is it?"

xxx

Nervous, Wyatt began to lay out all the ingredients they would need for the cookies. But when he was finished, he shook his head at his own silliness, and put everything back away.

They were not really going to bake, were they? It sounded so stupid to him now. What was Lucy thinking?

Well, he knew exactly what she was thinking, she told him, didn't she? And maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. It certainly would give them something to do while he took his time evaluating the situation, and hopefully come to the right conclusion about the two of them.

He was just busy getting everything out again when the doorbell rang, making his heart first jump and then race even faster in anticipation.

"Hey Wyatt," Jessica greeted him cheerily when he opened the door, drawing him in for a hug. He was so surprised by this sudden contact that he completely forgot to react on it, and when his brain was finally working again, it was already over. "So tell me, did it work?" she asked excited.

"Did what work?" Wyatt asked perplexed, still too overwhelmed by actually seeing her alive and well that he had a hard time registering anything else.

"The nursery of course, silly," Jessica laughed. "I'm sorry I had to cancel on you, by the way, but I was so busy at work that I simply couldn't leave."

"Uhm…" Desperately, Wyatt tried to make sense of any of this, but his mind was blank. The only thing that got through to him with painful clarity was that Jessica had mentioned the damn nursery when he tried so hard to banish it from his thoughts for as long as possible.

Jessica must have interpreted his reluctance differently though, "She said no, didn't she?" she concluded, her voice full of sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Wyatt, I honestly thought this would change her mind."

Wyatt frowned at her, he was pretty sure she was talking about Lucy now, but that was all he got from Jessica's mysterious insinuations.

He was drawn back to her presence when he felt her hand resting on his forearm, squeezing it lightly. "Are you alright?" she asked concerned.

"Sure, why wouldn't I be?" he said, quickly conjuring up a smile.

She scrutinised him for a moment, but then the smile returned to her face as well again, "Anyway, I'm sure she is going to agree to it eventually, right?"

"Yah! I think so too," Wyatt agreed, hoping it sounded convincing even though he still had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Okay, well, Lucy said something about you needing help making cookies," she changed the subject then, "Is that true, or was that just some kind of deception?"

"Deception for what?" he asked hoarsely.

"I thought maybe to talk about this," she said, gesturing between the two of them.

Wyatt's mouth went dry as he stared at her. What did she even mean by that? His other self didn't cheat on Lucy with her, did he? It was one thing that he was trying to make a move on her, but he was kind of doing this with Lucy's permission. Not that he needed it as they weren't really together, but still! His other self on the other hand had been _married_ to Lucy _for real_ , he had had no business sweet-taking Jessica.

"I don't think I follow," he therefore said uncertainly.

"I mean the two of us conspiring like this," she clarified before shaking her head bewildered. "You know, I can't exactly put my finger on it, but something is different with you and Lucy," she said, scrutinising him once again.

"Different how?" he almost gulped.

"That's just it, I can't really define it," Jessica shrugged, "It's more like a feeling actually."

"Well, we had a lot going on lately, so…"

"No," she disagreed, "It is more than that. For example, when I was taking care of Florence the other night, Lucy came back dressed like she spent some time in another century, did you know that?"

"Sure," Wyatt said instantly, relieved that he indeed knew this one. "It had something to do with her work."

"That's what she said too, but she also acted as if she had no idea who I am," Jessica said, frowning, "And she also didn't immediately ask how Florence was doing."

Wyatt chose to smile vacuously at that, "Yeah well, when it comes to history, Lucy forgets everything else," he shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Jessica nodded absentmindedly, then she looked around expectantly, "Where is she, by the way?"

"Who? Lucy?"

"No Florence of course. I bet she would love helping us with the cookies."

"Uhm, she is with Lucy," Wyatt revealed, now actually glad that she wasn't here to see any of this.

"Lucy took Florence to her afternoon class?" Jessica looked at him astounded, "That's new."

At first he was surprised that Jessica knew Lucy's schedule so well, but then he remembered that they were supposed to be friends.

That fact still baffled him though. How was it possible that in this timeline his current wife and his ex-wife were friends and they all seemed to be fine with it? Surely that had to be some cruel joke, right? He didn't know about Lucy, or even more specific the Lucy that used to live in this reality, but he hadn't been the only one that occasionally had to deal with jealousy during his marriage with Jess. So this whole situation seemed rather unlikely to him.

"I have to warn you though," Jessica just said when Wyatt became aware of her presence again, "I'm great at tasting the cookie dough, and I'm not too bad at cutting them out either, but that's it. You will have to do the rest."

"You've got yourself a deal," Wyatt laughed, happy that some things hadn't changed after all.

xxx

Sitting in her car, Lucy looked up at the house in front of her. She knew she had to go in eventually, but so far, she hadn't managed to gather up enough courage to actually go through with it.

Unintentionally, Lucy's gaze wandered to her watch. It was past 3 pm, and that most likely meant that Jessica was in her home right now, alone with Wyatt. The sudden mental image of the two of them ripping each others clothes off in their haste to get closer made Lucy cringe. She knew giving Wyatt the chance to rekindle his love with his wife had been the right thing to do, but that didn't make it easier for her. On the contrary, it hurt like hell.

She had promised Wyatt that she wasn't going to say anything to her mother about Jessica, and she intended to keep said promise, though not exactly for Wyatt's sake but her own. She simply couldn't face Carol with devastating news like this yet.

But even if she didn't announce it right away, the fact remained that she once again was finding herself in front of her mother's house with another failed relationship weighing heavily on her. Another _fake_ relationship, she corrected herself, brushing fiercely a few tears away.

But fake or not, Lucy felt like a failure, and she knew her mother would think the same. From her, Lucy couldn't expect any sympathy, but probably a lecture and a lot of _I-told-you-sos._

In a disturbing way that certainty consoled Lucy a little. At least her mother was still the same as she remembered. And maybe her sober truth was exactly what she needed at the moment, after all, it neither changed anything nor would it be of any help to her if she started to wallow in self-pity now.

Having come to a decision, Lucy turned around in her seat, "Ready for your day with Amy?" she asked her daughter.

"Amy!" Florence announced happily, clapping her hands together in excitement, making Lucy smile. History was mostly restored to its original form, she had her sister back, her mom wasn't sick anymore, Wyatt and Rufus were sound and safe, and she got this amazing child on top of everything else. So what was she complaining about? She should be happy and thankful, right?

Lucy checked her appearance one last time in the rear view mirror, then sighed deeply, and got out of the car. She could do this!

xxx

"Penny for your thoughts," Jessica said smiling, pulling Wyatt out of the same. And it wasn't the first time this afternoon either, his mind kept wandering off while they prepared the cookie dough in almost complete silence. He couldn't even tell what exactly was causing his constant mental absence, only that a lot of his moments of mental absence involved Lucy.

"Well, uh, it's nothing," he replied sheepish, placing the last few cookies on the baking plate, "And certainly not worth a whole penny."

"That's for me to decide, wouldn't you agree," Jessica played along, "I even raise my offer and throw in some cookie dough," she grinned roguishly, and immediately followed through with her proposal when she picked up a stray lump and actually flung it at him.

Completely taken aback, Wyatt stared unbelieving at the spot on his shirt where it had hit him, "I can't believe you actually did that," he said astounded, scraping the pastry off with his fingers.

"Sorry," she laughed at his befuddled look. "But I simply couldn't resist."

"Oh you think this is funny?" he asked, throwing the remains of the sticky substance right back at her, hitting her square at the head.

"Ugh, gross!" she exclaimed, laughing hard as she tried to get the dough out of her hair, but only succeeded in making it worse.

Wyatt watched her mesmerised. He still couldn't believe this was real. Jessica was actually standing right in front of him, not only alive and well, but also looking so incredibly happy, and just as beautiful as he remembered, even with her hair in a sticky mess.

"Stop staring at me like this," Jessica demanded, averting her blushing face, "I look ridiculous."

"No, you look great," Wyatt said pensively, "Just like when we first met," he added grinning.

"Oh god," Jessica groaned, now hiding her face behind her hands in embarrassment. "Don't remind me, this must have been the worst day of my life."

"Uhm, thanks?" Wyatt replied, making a point to sound offended even though he was highly amused by this whole situation.

"What? No!" she started to laugh uncontrollably again, "That's not… stop laughing, I mean it," she said, hitting his arm lightly. "Fine, the whole day had been a complete disaster, until I met you. Does that sound better?"

"Much better, actually! And yeah, I know," Wyatt reminisced. "Well, let's see if I can still recall everything that has happened to you that day."

"Please don't!" Jessica groaned again, "It was awful enough living through it once, I seriously don't need you to repeat it for me."

"It was a Monday, and you woke up late because you forgot to set the alarm," Wyatt started nevertheless, ignoring her protests. "In your hurry to still leave on time, you therefore slammed the door shut too fast, with all your keys still inside, so you had to take the bus instead. Then, when you hastened to your class, the heel of one of your shoes broke off, and you had to go bare feet until someone took the pity on you and lent you a spare pair of shoes."

"You forgot that there was also this kid on the bus that spilled his juice all over me," Jessica added dryly, "So that I not only was completely soaked, but it also ruined my paper that was due that day."

"That's right, how could I forget about that?" Wyatt laughed before he continued his own recollection of her day, "Anyway, the shoes you got happened to be much too big for your feet, so it was only a matter of time until you tripped, and of course it had to occur at lunch time in the dining hall, of all places, and you ended up with mashed potatoes in your hair and sauce dripping all the way down your front."

"That sounds about right," Jessica grimaced.

"So when I met you _that_ evening, you looked all dishevelled, quite dirty, completely exhausted, and unbelieving adorable," Wyatt finished with admiration.

"Adorable, uh?" Jessica asked blushing.

"Yah!"

They stared each other in the eyes for a moment, then Wyatt couldn't take it any longer, he leaned forward until the space between them ceased to exist and his lips met hers in a long anticipated kiss.

xxx

"Lucy," her mother acknowledged her presence curtly when she opened the door, making Lucy aware that their last encounter hadn't been a pleasant one.

"Hi, uh, mom," Lucy greeted uncomfortable, adjusting her hold on Florence, "Is Amy here?"

"Of course she is," a cheerful voice answered before her mother could, "Where else would she be? It's a school night, dear sister."

"You can mock me all you want," Carol said sternly, turning around to face her younger daughter, "But a rule is a rule. You'll thank me later."

Exasperated, Amy rolled her eyes, she, just like Lucy, must have heard this countless times already, "It's not even 4 o'clock, mom, that is hardly a school _night_!" she therefore protested even though she knew it was in vain. But that was Amy, Lucy realised fondly, always trying to contradict her mother's rules just because.

"Amy!" Carol said harried, "Just drop it! We have discussed this often enough, school comes first!" And before Amy even had the chance to argue her point any further, Carol rounded harshly back on Lucy, "And what do you want? You didn't come here all the way just to bring me a Snickers, did you?"

For a few seconds, Lucy soundlessly opened and closed her mouth, too stunned to find any words, but then she composed herself again. "Amy offered to watch Florence for a few hours," she quickly made up, giving Amy a brief but urgent glance, hoping that she not only would catch on and back her up, but also would agree to it.

"That's true," Amy said immediately, tickling Florence under her chin, "I haven't seen the little munchkin in forever, and wanted to spend some time with her."

While Lucy was amazed that despite everything, she and Amy still seemed to be able to communicate so well with only looks and gestures, Carol frowned at them, displeased, "You have seen her just 3 days ago. Besides, don't you still have a lot of studying to do?" she asked Amy. "I believe you have a big math test next week, don't you?"

"You are right as always," Amy responded, "That's why I asked dad to study with me when he returns on Sunday. And seriously, there is absolutely no point for me trying to get started on this without him, I would only get it wrong."

Carol huffed in disapproval, but Lucy had turned rigid, thinking she must have misheard them, "Dad?" she choked out hoarsely, looking uncertainly at her sister.

"Yeah you know, big, funny guy, who thankfully also has a talent for math," Amy shrugged. "Which I think is an advantage when you pursue a career as businessman," she added as an afterthought. "Too bad he didn't pass it on to me."

"Your father has more important things to do than help you with _your_ studies," Carol reprimanded her at once. "You are more than old enough to take care of this on your own."

"Strange, I could swear you just told me that school comes first," Amy retorted, unflinching. "And wouldn't that rule also include that a father is supposed to help his struggling daughter to make sure that she doesn't fall behind?"

With that challenge hanging in the air, Amy quickly snatched Florence out of Lucy's arms and made a run for it, leaving both Lucy and Carol looking after her in stunned silence.

"I swear, I have no idea where this child got her sass from," Carol eventually complained when Amy was already long gone. "I wouldn't have dared to speak like that to my mother, and Henry is much too placid for this kind of behaviour."

Lucy didn't know what she was supposed to answer to this, when she followed Carol into the sitting room, or if she should, or rather could, answer at all. She still had trouble digesting the news that the man, she had called her father her entire life, apparently wasn't dead any longer. This didn't made sense at all to her. Henry Wallace hadn't been erased from the timeline like Amy had been, so how was it possible that he too was back all of a sudden?

Unless he was somehow affected by the same still unknown changes that also brought Jessica back.

"On the other hand, I might have an idea from whom she has learned this," her mother said, pulling Lucy out of her thoughts, "Your husband. Ever since he came into the picture you girls have turned against me. And this kind of rebelliousness is exactly his trademark."

Lucy knew that wasn't true, or at least not entirely. The Amy from her original timeline had been sassy too, and then there hadn't been a Wyatt around to corrupt her.

No, that had all been due to her overbearing mother, Lucy realised. She didn't doubt for a minute that Carol was indeed trying to do what she thought was best for her daughters, but it was simply too much, and she, Lucy, never had had the courage to stand up to her, which left Amy to fight their mother for the both of them all by herself.

There was no way though that she was going to tell her mother that, certainly not now, and probably not in the near future either. But she also didn't want to argue with Carol about Wyatt once again, so she did something that even surprised herself afterwards.

"Have you ever heard of an organisation called Rittenhouse?" Lucy asked out of the blue, scrutinising her mother closely when she mentioned that name. She knew she was playing with fire here, but in her original timeline her real father had been their leader, or at least one of their leaders, so maybe her mother had heard of them too, and if she had, then maybe this Carol Preston had as well. It was a long shot, but definitely safer then asking Benjamin Cahill directly.

"Where in God's name have you heard about them?" her mother asked shocked, letting herself drop onto a chair at the huge table that occupied a huge part of the room.

"Uhm, Ben told me about them," Lucy lied, taking the seat next to her mother. So it was true, this version of her mother knew about them, so chances that she also had known about them in their original timeline had suddenly increased by several orders of magnitude. This realisation sent a shockwave through her body. Had she ever even known her mother?

"Of course he did," Carol huffed. "Lucy, whatever great things he has told you about them, don't listen to him."

"But you know them, right?" Lucy hoarsely asked for confirmation. "They are supposed to be rather powerful, don't they? With a lot of influence?"

"Well, they certainly _think_ that they are some powerful secret society," her mother snorted. "Can you believe that they actually compare themselves to the Free Masons?" She gave another derogatory laugh before she continued, "But in reality they are just a bunch of overly dramatic megalomanics, talking about all the great things they would change in the world if they could, but none of them has the guts, or the means, to actually do anything."

"So you say they are a bunch of frauds," Lucy asked irritated, knowing for sure that that wasn't true.

"Well frauds doesn't cut it either," Carol gauged. "Actually, they once used to be very powerful until nearly all of their most important members were massacred in 1843."

"They what?" Lucy asked taken aback, feeling a cold chill running down her spine, remembering only too clearly what her mother was talking about. So this part of history hadn't changed back then.

"I know, horrible isn't it?" her mother continued.

"You can't even imagine," Lucy whispered absentmindedly, reliving all of it for a second time in her mind's eye.

"Actually, one of your direct ancestors was the only survivor of the massacre," Carol revealed to Lucy's surprise. "I think his name was Thomas, Thomas Cahill. He got severely injured, but astonishingly pulled through. He was pretty young too when it happened, if I recall correctly. But if you are interested in the whole story, you really have to ask your father, he can tell you all about it."

Lucy's mouth went dry, and she was feeling rather nauseous when she heard this. So it could have been her. If this Thomas hadn't survived, she would have been erased from history this time around.

"Rittenhouse played a huge part in my family too, by the way," her mother continued, apparently oblivious to her daughter's state of shock, "My grandfather once was one of their highly regarded members as well, and I have to admit, as a little girl I was fascinated by the mystery that surrounded them."

"You are Rittenhouse?" Lucy asked faintly, grabbing the arm rest of her chair so tightly that her knuckles went white.

"Only by blood," her mother rolled her eyes. "At least that's how _they_ see it, but I was never truly interested in joining them, I just always liked the stories and the rich history that came along with them."

"So they did meddle with history then?" Lucy asked soberly.

"Meddled?" her mother threw her a disconcerting look, "That is a strange way to describe it. I'd say they were involved in history, yes. I think Rittenhouse always stood for bringing people forth that didn't just intend to watch things from the back row, but wanted actively participating in shaping their own future."

"Yah," Lucy said toneless, that is _exactly_ what they wanted to do.

"Anyway, there is one good thing that came from all of this," her mother smiled, brushing a stray hair out of Lucy's face.

Lucy frowned at her perplexed. "There is?" she croaked out.

"I never would have met your father without them." Carol's gaze went soft when she looked at her daughter, "We were too different though. Each one of us too settled with our own expectations of the future, so it didn't last long." Her mother shrugged unconcerned, "But you wouldn't exist now if we hadn't met. So in a way, Rittenhouse is the reason you are here today."

xxx

Wyatt backed away from Jessica as if he had burnt himself. What the hell was he doing? The kiss had only lasted a few seconds, but it had been long enough for Wyatt to come to his senses.

Granted, Lucy and he weren't truly married, but that didn't change the fact that he felt like an ass all of a sudden. This was exactly what Lucy's mother had expected him to do, and here he was, proofing her right, even though he had sworn that there was no way he would ever do that. Okay, that had been before he knew Jessica was still alive, but did that really change anything? Fact was that he was about to cheat on Lucy, regardless if it was for real or not, and everyone who knew them would see it that way, so there was no way he could go through with this.

"I'm sorry," Wyatt said horrified, "I _never_ should have done that."

"No, neither should I," Jessica agreed, biting her lips in shame, turning away from him.

"Oh god," Wyatt groaned in frustration, running his hands over his face. What was wrong with him? This wasn't what he wanted. At least not anymore.

Wyatt couldn't believe that his cover-kiss with Lucy in front of Bonnie and Clyde had had more sparks and had stirred up more feelings than this kiss with Jessica just now had.

Or probably it was because he had had impossible high expectations in this kiss, whereas the kiss with Lucy came totally out of the blue, and the emotions coming along with it had caught him completely off-guard.

Whatever the reasons, kissing Jess felt wrong on so many levels that Wyatt actually regretted doing it.

"Wyatt, I get that things are at odds between you and Lucy lately," Jessica began to babble, obviously trying to find a plausible explanation for his stupid actions, "But you really shouldn't throw away what you have with her because you are frustrated or something."

"What is that supposed to mean," Wyatt asked tormented. Wasn't it bad enough already that he had realised just now what an idiot he had been, did she also have to confirm it to him on top of it?

"Listen to me," she implored him, grabbing his arm to make him look at her, "I'm sure that Lucy wants a second child just as much as you do, but maybe setting up the nursery to convince her, wasn't the best idea after all. Just give her a little more time, okay, let her enjoy her professional success for a while longer before you approach the subject again."

"Wait what?" Wyatt gulped agitated, "That's what the nursery upstairs is for? _To convince Lucy to have another child?_ "

"Yeah well," Jessica started, letting go of his arms when he fixed his eyes on her fiercely.

"Who comes up with a stupid plan like that?" he growled, partly annoyed for all the pain this idiotic idea had caused him and Lucy, and partly out of relief.

"Fine, I admit it, apparently that hadn't been one of my brightest ideas, but you went along with it, Wyatt, so don't act now as if you had no part in it," Jessica defended herself, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a protective manner. "Besides, you were the one that was reluctant to throw this motley collection of baby furniture away in case you still might need it, even though Lucy made it clear that she didn't want to keep it any longer, now that you finally had the place and money to buy Florence a complete new set. And I only suggested to newly arrange them so that it looks like you are ready for a second baby."

"You have to go," Wyatt said suddenly, "Now!"

"You're kicking me out?" Jessica asked astounded.

"Yes! I guess I am," Wyatt confirmed determined, "I'm finally done making mistakes."

"Fine I'll go," Jessica said, grabbing her purse and her jacket from one of the chairs in front of the counter. She was about to leave when she suddenly turned around and looked at him with pleading eyes, "Please don't tell Lucy about any of this," she begged him "I swear I won't let this happen ever again, and I truly don't want to lose her, or you, as my friends."

Wyatt sighed in desperation. All of this was solely his fault, but apparently Jessica thought she was to blame. "Jessica I…" he sighed, trying to tell her just that, but had to stop because he couldn't find the right words to explain himself. How could he? This whole messed up situation was inexplainable without the mention of time travel.

"I see," Jessica said eventually, sounding sad and disappointed, "Of course you are going to tell her. It's what you do, always being honest with the people you care about …"

After that, she almost fled the room and Wyatt automatically sprinted after her to see her out. He was sorry, and he hated seeing her like this, but it was the right thing to do at the moment.

Startled, he backed away when she suddenly wheeled around once more, "You know," she said, looking hurt, but actually sounding hurtful, "I always thought that I was the one that lost out back then when you chose Lucy over me, and there were times when I actually resented her for that, but now I'm not so sure anymore, maybe I was in fact the lucky one that got away."

With this nasty statement standing between them like a solid wall, she finally stormed out of the door and slammed it shut behind her.

xxx

Wyatt didn't know what he was supposed to do now, or how he should behave around Lucy after this fiasco. All he knew was that he wanted to have her back here with him as soon as possible. He wanted to tell her that he and Jessica were done, he wanted her to know that he wasn't going anywhere. He wanted to hug and kiss his daughter and never ever let her go again. And he also wished that he could do the same with Lucy.

Problem was, Lucy didn't feel the same way about him.

Wyatt spent the next few hours on an emotional roller coaster, trapped between hope, dread, relieve, and despair. It was awful, it was heart-wrenching, and it turned him into a vulnerable mess.

He was so nervous, and was slowly eaten up by self-doubts, that he not only tried to keep himself busy by cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, but also finished baking the damn cookies. Unfortunately his tasks didn't keep him occupied nearly long enough, so he was actually relieved when Rufus showed up around 7 pm, successfully distracting him from his misery.

"Where is Lucy?" Rufus asked when he followed Wyatt into the kitchen, looking around excitedly, "She has to hear this too."

"Still at her mom's, I think," Wyatt replied flatly.

"Oh, okay! Guess I'm able to tell my news twice then," Rufus grinned happily.

"Or you could wait a bit," Wyatt suggested before he hopefully added, "She should be back any minute now."

"Nah, I can't wait," Rufus refused, grabbing a few of the freshly baked cookies right off the tray in front of him, and stuffed them all at once into his mouth.

Grinning, Wyatt handed him a beer from the fridge. "So what is the good news then?" he asked, leaning against the counter with his own bottle in his hands.

"Jiya and I are having a date tomorrow evening," Rufus burst out, having the biggest smile possible on his face.

"No kidding!" Wyatt exclaimed happily, clapping Rufus hard on the shoulder. "Good for you, man."

"Yeah," Rufus sighed relieved, "And I thought it was hard to ask her out the first time around."

"So how did you do it?" Wyatt asked curiously.

"Uhm, yeah about that," Rufus said uncomfortable, "I kind of told her that I know that they are building a time-machine."

Surprised Wyatt raised his eyebrows at him.

"I also might have implied that I already used it," Rufus continued quickly before Wyatt could start lecture him, "And I promised her to tell her everything if she goes on this date with me."

"Rufus I…" Wyatt started but was immediately interrupted again.

"Look," Rufus said determined, but avoided looking at Wyatt directly. "I know I should have asked you guys first before I told Jiya, but it just came out, okay? I didn't intend to tell her, but I'm glad I did. I hated keeping this secret from her."

"Actually, I think it is great, Rufus," Wyatt finally managed to squeeze in when Rufus was busy drawing a breath in between sentences.

"You…you do?" Rufus asked baffled, forgetting what else he was about to say, and finally chanced to look at Wyatt again.

"I do!" he replied seriously, "We know Jiya can be trusted, and if you think she is ready to hear this, then I won't question your judgement."

"Oh … okay … thanks," Rufus stammered taken aback, making Wyatt snort at his insecurity. "So we are cool?"

"Totally cool," Wyatt confirmed, clicking his bottle against Rufus' to seal the deal.

They were silent for a moment, each one of them dwelling on their own thoughts.

"I have a problem," Wyatt suddenly spoke up again, "I'm in love with Lucy."

Before he actually said it out loud, he hadn't been sure if he was truly going to mention anything about this to Rufus. But maybe this was his best option right now, getting the perspective of someone who knew her just as well as he did. And at the very least it felt good to finally admit this, even if it was only to Rufus.

"So? What else is new?" Rufus blinked at him unfazed.

"No, Rufus, I don't think you understand, I mean I'm truly, completely, head over heels in love with Lucy," Wyatt elucidated desperately. How Rufus was unable to grasp the importance of this revelation was beyond him.

"Yeah, I know," Rufus shrugged.

"You know?" Wyatt flared up in frustration. "How could you possibly know that? I only realised this myself today."

"Seriously?" Rufus snorted, "And here I was thinking that you just didn't want to admit it yet."

"Not one word to Lucy!" Wyatt demanded, suddenly scared that Rufus would tell on him and ruin everything.

"Okay, but don't you think you should tell her how you feel?" Rufus probed. "Trust me when I tell you this, it makes you feel so much better if you are honest with the person you love."

"Are you crazy? I don't want to lose her!" Wyatt protested at once.

"What on earth makes you think you are going to lose her if you tell her that you love her?" Rufus asked puzzled.

"This is a very delicate situation," Wyatt pointed out tensely. "We are stuck in this awkward reality in which we are already married and are therefore forced to live together. And did I mention that we also have a child? I can't mess this up just because I feel the need to declare my undying love for her all of a sudden," he stressed. "Not if I'm not sure that she feels the same."

"I'm pretty sure she feels the same," Rufus shrugged his arguments off.

"Really? Are you now? But how sure are you exactly?" Wyatt questioned. "What if she _doesn't_ feel the same way, huh? What then? Ever thought about that? Do you honestly think we can continue to live here together if something like this stands between us? I don't want her to feels uncomfortable in her own home."

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?" Rufus snorted, but when he noticed Wyatt's stern face, he quickly dropped the grin. "Just think about it, okay?"

"Just think about it?" Wyatt flared up once more. "I've done nothing else but think about it the whole afternoon. I can't tell her. Not yet anyway. I mean it Rufus, _not one word_!" he insisted.

"Fine, I promise, I won't say a thing," Rufus relented at last, "But _you_ should!"

* * *

 _I let you in on a little secret, I've dreaded writing the meeting between Wyatt and Jessica ever since I started with this story. I knew very early on that I was going to bring her back so that Wyatt could get closure. I also wanted him to actively choose Lucy, even though the possibility of getting Jess back was within his grasp, and for that to happen, I knew he would have to kiss her. The dilemma was that the kiss also had to be authentic without turning Wyatt or Jessica into cheating douchebags._

 _I hate triangles with a passion. I think they are the worst form of storytelling, because the person caught in the middle_ _always_ _looks bad and flakey, no matter what the circumstances are. Therefore, I truly hope that I didn't turn my story into one of those soapy triangles as well, because I don't want you to hate any of the characters because of trite triangles._


	14. Struck by Lightning

**Long time no see, but here I am again. For some reason I found it very difficult this time to put the finishing touches to this chapter...**

* * *

 **14\. Struck by Lightning**

Lucy delayed her return home as long as possible. At first, she went back straight away, but then couldn't bring herself to actually set foot into the house. The thought of walking in on Wyatt when he was all over Jessica, making out with her, or even worse, was too excruciating.

Maybe she should have accepted his offer to use a hotel after all instead of letting him taint her own home. How was she supposed to live there from now on when she knew that Wyatt and Jessica have found their way back to each other in this very place?

Undecided what to do next, Lucy had been sitting in her car for quite some time already when Florence began to get awfully cranky out of boredom. Startled, Lucy hurried to get up and attend to her daughter's needs.

"Sorry honey," Lucy said as she freed her from the restrains of her seat. "I was a little distracted, I guess."

"Daddy!" Florence at once shouted with glee, pointing behind Lucy when she scrambled down onto the sidewalk.

Alarmed, Lucy wheeled around, afraid that Wyatt had caught her lingering around in front of the house for what felt like an eternity. But he was nowhere to be seen, so Lucy assumed that Florence simply had recognised her surroundings and knew that she would find him here.

It broke her heart thinking that he probably wouldn't be staying with them much longer after today, and that Florence soon would have forgotten a life in which both her parents were living in the same place. She had no doubt that Wyatt would spend as much time as possible with the little girl, especially now that he apparently had come to full terms with his unexpected fatherhood, but it wouldn't be the same anymore. Lucy was sure that in just a few weeks Florence wouldn't expect to see him here anymore when they returned home.

The thought saddened her more than she dared to admit. Tears were starting to run down her cheeks again, and Lucy quickly grabbed Florence's hand to drag her away from the house. "We are not going home yet," she told her determined, brushing the tears away just to make room for new ones. "How about we are going for a little walk instead? To get some fresh air?"

"Okay," Florence mumbled as she went along cooperatively, but stumbled several times over her own feet as she continued to look back.

Lucy felt awfully guilty that she was making the little girl wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood at this late hour, but she couldn't face Wyatt yet. And not just because she dreaded the confirmation that he and Jessica have rekindled relationship, but also because the tears were still coming, and there was no way she was going to let him see how upset she was due to all of this.

At first Florence didn't seem to mind their unexpected stroll, and even insisted on walking on her own, but soon she got tired and Lucy had to carry her.

About an hour later, Florence had fallen asleep in her arms already, Lucy was pretty exhausted herself and longed for her comfortable bed. It was also getting rather cold all of a sudden and the tiny hands around her neck felt like ice by now.

"Okay," she murmured defeated, gently changing the sleeping girl from one side to the other, "That's it, we are going home."

xxx

It was getting late and Wyatt's initial worries had grown into real fear over the curse of the last hour. Where was she?

He tried to call her again, but like his previous attempts, she either didn't notice, or she was ignoring him. He hoped it wasn't the latter. Not that he would blame her after his behaviour, but it didn't seem like something she would do and therefore only added to his worries.

When the time approached 10 pm, and he still hadn't heard from her, Wyatt contemplated to call Carol instead. He wondered if Lucy would spend the night at her house without telling him. Or had she told him and he just didn't pay attention? After all, he had been a little distracted this morning.

It didn't really matter, he decided, he would get it over with and call her mother, accept the lecture that surely was in store for him, and then would demand, or more likely beg, that he could talk to Lucy.

Not exactly happy with his plan, but determined to get through with it anyway, he turned around to look for Carol's number in the office, and immediately jumped in fright.

"I can't believe that you actually made the cookies," Lucy remarked astounded.

"God damn it, Lucy!" Wyatt gasped, clutching his chest as if that gesture would help calm his wildly beating heart down. "Stop sneaking up on me like this."

"Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly.

"It's okay," Wyatt said breathless, staring at her as if he was seeing her for the very first time. And maybe that wasn't that far-fetched from the truth either, he certainly had never seen her with this unwavering certainty that he was completely in love with her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as if she had spent quite some time in the cold, and her hair was an unruly mop, possibly due to the wind. In other words, he thought she looked stunning. He wanted to tell her that, but when he opened his mouth, something entirely else came forth.

"I kissed Jess," he blurted out before he could stop himself and immediately cringed after the words had left his lips. This was not how he had wanted her to find out about it. In fact he had debated if he should reveal this faux pas to her at all, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. Hell, even Jessica had known that he would tell her eventually. He just wished he had done it differently.

"Uh, okay," Lucy said, averting her eyes from him and focused them on their sleeping daughter in her arms instead.

"I'm really sorry Lucy!" Wyatt hurried to append as he watched her laying Florence carefully down onto the sofa and wrap a blanket around her. "I swear I didn't mean for that to happen, I was just …" he trailed off, unsure how he should explain himself.

"In the moment?" Lucy suggested, sounding incomprehensible calm.

Wyatt grimaced at that comment. "Rather caught up in the past, I think," he rectified grimly.

"Don't be sorry about it, Wyatt. It was meant to happen sooner or later, wasn't it? After all, you never stopped loving her, and now she is suddenly back in your life," Lucy said hastily, putting up a brave front. "So I guess everything worked according to plan, I mean this is what this meeting today was all about, wasn't it? I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, but … Lucy I…" he breathed. She was right of course, that had been the plan, Wyatt had to admit contritely. Not exactly his plan though, but he _did_ go along with it. And he also couldn't deny that he had been looking forward to it, that he actually had thought for a while that this was what he truly wanted. Until the kiss at least, that's when he knew how awfully wrong he had been.

Lucy neither heard his feeble protest nor did she notice his inner turmoil. "I wouldn't know of course, I've never been in love," she babbled on, talking faster and faster by the minute now and unknowingly breaking Wyatt's heart with her announcement. "So I can only imagine what it is like to love someone like you love Jessica, or having someone reciprocate said love. I guess that must be a great feeling, though I'm hardly entitled to have my own opinion on the matter as I've never experienced being loved by someone so intensely either."

" _Lucy, stop it!_ " Wyatt interrupted her forcefully, not able to endure the way she was degrading herself any longer. He had always hated how she talked so detached about the concept of love as if it wasn't part of her life, but hearing her confirm it now, in this very moment, made his heart clench up painfully. He longed to just shut her up by kissing her senseless, or at least hug her so tightly that she would never feel alone, or unworthy ever again, but all he dared to do was apologise again. "I'm so sorry. It shouldn't have happened."

"Well, she is your wife …," Lucy deflected his apology at once.

"That is the thing," Wyatt groaned in frustration. "In this reality she isn't my wife, but _you are_!"

"Wyatt, it is okay, I get it," Lucy assured him toneless, her expression distant and cold. "You don't have to explain it."

"No Lucy," Wyatt growled dissatisfied, his voice raised in anger now that she wouldn't listen to what he was trying to tell her. "This isn't right. No matter why, I shouldn't have done that. And _she_ shouldn't have done that either, for Christ sake. For her I am a married man, regardless how phony this marriage might be."

The moment he said this, he already regretted it. He could only guess how these words had sounded to Lucy, but judging by her reaction, it didn't come off the way he had intended it to. His intention had been to tell her that he made a huge mistake, but at the same time, he also wanted to assure her that he was aware that their marriage wasn't real, and she didn't have to feel pressured or forced to be his wife if she didn't want to. But clearly he had done a poor job in doing so, Wyatt realised as he saw her face fall.

To him it didn't make a difference if their marriage was real or not, his feeling for her were, he had never been more sure of it, and that was what truly mattered, wasn't it? But then why wasn't he able to just tell her that? In his mind this conversation had been so much easier. There had been a lot less shouting, for starters, namely none, but a lot more honesty and a few heartfelt confessions. At least on his part.

Once or twice Wyatt had even dared to add a kiss or two into these various scenarios when he played them out while he waited for her to come home.

He gave an exasperated scoff at his foolishness, he should have known this would never happen.

"I uhm, I think I'm going to bed now," Lucy eventually announced sadly, "It was a long day and I'm really tired."

"Yeah, okay," Wyatt said just as despondent. He watched her go and even though everything in him screamed to hold her back, he didn't act on it. He briefly closed his eyes and went over everything he just had said to her. It was a complete disaster, nothing went the way he imagined it would, and it was entirely his fault.

"Daddy?" a soft voice interrupted his dismal thoughts. Startled, Wyatt turned around and, to his surprise, found Florence standing on the sofa, holding herself upright by grabbing onto the backrest. She tiredly blinked at him before she stretched her arms out so that he could pick her up.

Wyatt growled deeply at the sight. They really were the worst parents in the universe. He for once had completely forgotten about the sleeping child on the sofa, and he could only assume that Lucy had as well, otherwise she wouldn't have left the room just like that.

Luckily, the sofa still served as his nightly resting place, so he would have found her there eventually, but the thought alone that she might have turned over in her sleep and had fallen off it in the process, gave Wyatt a major scare in hindsight.

And if forgetting about her hadn't been bad enough already, they also once more had been fighting right in front of her, even though she fortunately slept through it this time. All of this crap had to stop. They really had to be more careful with her from now on.

Feeling immensely guilty, he wordlessly picked her up and hugged her as close as possible to his chest without hurting her. "I'm so sorry, baby girl," he murmured, before tenderly kissing her cheek. "I didn't mean to forget about you! Let's get you to a proper bed now."

Contented, Florence snuggled her head into the crook of his neck, and didn't seem to mind at all that he didn't exactly classify as a proper bed.

"Okay listen," Wyatt whispered into the curls of his tired daughter when he slowly made his way upstairs, "You and I have to be irresistible cute from now on so that we can win Lucy over with our natural charm. And yes, I'm afraid you will have to do most of the work, 'cause, let's admit it, you are way cuter and much more irresistible than I am. But it's important that we both pull together here, otherwise we are going to lose her completely."

"Well, I'm going to lose her," he added as an afterthought, "There is absolutely no chance that she is going to give you up."

x

Lucy felt like he had slapped her across the face while simultaneously stabbing her into the heart and twisted the knife.

Of course she knew that their marriage wasn't real, and that he didn't like her in that way, but it hurt nevertheless hearing him say this out loud. But that alone hadn't even been the worst of it, no, it was the way he said, as if the concept alone was ridiculous to think about.

How could he mock their relationship like this? Phony, he had called it. As if it was only a bad joke to him. And that after she had tried everything to help him get his real wife back.

Lucy was so absorbed in her sorrow that she at first didn't hear the voice through the baby monitor on her bed-side table. His voice!

And when she did notice it, she couldn't make out what he was saying, but he seemingly was talking to someone, which either meant that he was on the phone, or he was talking to…

With a jolt, Lucy sat up in her bed. Florence! She had completely forgotten about her in her need to get away from Wyatt. How could she forget about her little girl? Maybe she wasn't as ready to be a mother as she had thought she was. After all, she had not only forced her daughter to spend an unnecessarily long time outside in the cold today, but then she also forgot to put her to bed. What kind of mother did that?

Who was she kidding? She couldn't do this on her own. If it hadn't been for Wyatt, everything would have gone down the drain by now, probably already at the very first day. He was always there to pick up her slack. She needed him, Florence needed him, they were lost without him. This realisation caused a new flood of tears run down her cheeks.

"This has to stay between us though," Wyatt's voice became suddenly much louder and clearer, probably because he was currently standing right next to the baby monitor. "At least for now. You can't tell Lucy about this, okay?" he murmured.

At once, Lucy stopped crying and started to listen intently. What wasn't she supposed to know?

"Did you know that I actually asked her out to dinner," Wyatt told Florence then, "I mean, well, maybe not in the most obvious way, but my intention to spend more time with her was clear, I think. But then, and I have absolutely no idea what I did wrong, because I had been so sure that she felt something for me, she suddenly bolted." Wyatt gave a short chuckle at that, and Lucy's heart dropped again. "Anyway, I promise you that I won't give up on her," Wyatt continued, sounding very serious and determined now. "I know I have to be careful, but I simply have to try, or I will always regret it. It probably won't be easy, considering everything that has happened between us, but she is worth it."

After that, Wyatt didn't say anything else, and just a moment later, Lucy could hear him pass her bedroom on his way back down.

So he had been lying to her, Lucy realised with a pang, so much for _I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done this_ and _I'm not a cheater_. Fine, it probably was awkward trying to court your previous wife right in front of your current wife, but it wasn't like Lucy had given him any reason to think that she wasn't supportive of him, was it? So why would he lie to her? If possible, this new kind of betrayal felt even worse than his mocking of their so called marriage, because this time it was really about them. He had always been open to her about his feelings for his wife, but now, all of a sudden, he didn't even trust her with the truth any longer. So what did that mean for their friendship then?

xxx

The next morning, Lucy woke up due to loud cries sounding from the baby monitor. Instantly she was wide awake and on her feet, hastening over to Florence's room. To both her relieve and chagrin, Wyatt was already there, picking the little girl up just as she entered.

"What's wrong with her?" Lucy asked worried, trying to avoid looking too closely at Wyatt, who was only wearing boxers, revealing every toned muscle of his bare abdomen to her.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing if he moved out soon, Lucy thought agonized, then at least she wouldn't have to deal with such a torturous sight any longer.

"I don't know?" he said, checking their daughter for injuries. When he couldn't find any obvious source for Florence's misery, he started to cuddle her closer to his body and rocked her gently while whispering soothing words into her ear. But nothing seemed to help.

Florence tried to tell them something between heart-wrenching sobs, but neither Lucy nor Wyatt could make out what it was.

"Here," Wyatt sighed, handing the girl over to Lucy, "Maybe you have more luck with her this morning."

"I doubt that," Lucy mumbled, knowing very well that usually he was much better at calming her down than she was. Nevertheless, she was glad for the distraction. Even if it meant that Florence was loudly crying right into her ears now.

"Lucy, where is this ugly bear-doll thingy?" Wyatt asked suddenly, turning over the pillow and blanket in Florence's bed in case he missed it.

"I don't know," Lucy admitted. "I haven't seen it since yesterday morning. You don't honestly think that is why she is upset."

"Wanna bet?" Wyatt asked grimly, looking around the floor now and even checked the drawers of the changing table and the wardrobe.

"That is ridiculous," Lucy insisted, "Most of the time she hardly pays attention to it anymore."

"Yes, because we keep her occupied during the day," Wyatt said wisely, "But you know as well as I do that she wants it as soon as she is in bed."

"What if you are wrong though?" Lucy asked still unconvinced that a missing toy could cause this kind of reaction. "What if she is hurting somewhere and we are wasting precious time by looking for it."

"Let's find out," Wyatt said determined and took the still crying Florence out of Lucy's arms again.

Curious, but also rather bewildered how he was going to do this without having the actual object of desire at hand, Lucy watched him when he once more cuddled Florence against his chest. But this time he didn't attempt whispering words of comfort to her, but started humming Florence's favourite lullaby, and surprisingly it worked. Florence visibly calmed down and rested her head against his shoulder.

"See?" Wyatt said quickly before he started humming again. "Think Lucy, when and where have last you seen that thing?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure, I … Oh god, I think I left it at my mother's," Lucy suddenly exclaimed.

xxx

And so Lucy was on her way back to Carol Preston with an oppressive feeling. She was sure that her mother could spot right away that something was wrong. Thanks to Amy, she had been lucky enough to escape her piercing look and the sharp questions the day before, but today she probably wouldn't get away so easily.

"Lucy! Please wait!" a voice called after her. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it until she turned around. Lucy cursed her lucky stars when she spotted Jessica on the opposite side of the street, waiting for a car to pass so that she could cross it.

Lucy's first instinct was to pretend that she hadn't heard her and to keep moving, but before she had the chance to actually go through with this plan, Jessica approached her, slightly out of breath.

"Jessica," Lucy greeted her tersely. Why the hell couldn't she have left a few minutes earlier?

Against her better judgement, Lucy couldn't help scrutinizing her. She had seen her before of course, but the first time, she hadn't known who she was, and the second time, she had tried to get her out of the house as fast as possible before Wyatt would see her. Now however, she unfortunately had the time to look at Wyatt's wife in her entirety.

She was pretty, Lucy had to admit, much prettier than she was herself. But she hadn't expected anything else. She had always assumed that Jessica would be easy on the eyes. A perfect match for him, so to say. But what really bothered her was that she also seemed to be very kind and complaisant as she was standing right in front of her with this guilty expression on her face. It would have been so much easier to despise her if she had been a dumb, shallow bitch.

"He told you, didn't he?" Jessica asked rueful, avoiding Lucy's piercing stare, but didn't even wait for her reply. "Of course he did, I knew he would. But just though you know, I kissed him, not the other way round. And he immediately pushed me away, I swear."

Lucy was sure that wasn't true. But she couldn't blame Wyatt for that. In fact, she was surprised that he had pushed her away at all. And Jessica, well, Lucy probably could blame her, but she also knew first hand how Wyatt could be around women if he wanted to. So no wonder she thought he was attracted to her.

"Jessica …" Lucy wanted to play the incident down, to make things less awkward between them.

"No seriously, Lucy, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen. It's not even that I like Wyatt that way. Well, at least not anymore. But yesterday, the way he looked at me, it brought all the feelings back that I once had for him. You know, when we were back in college."

"College?" Lucy asked bewildered. She hadn't known that Wyatt went to college. To be completely honest, she also had never asked, but pretty much assumed that he didn't.

Jessica immediately got defensive, probably misinterpreting Lucy's bewilderment as provocation. "Well, yes, before he met you," but then couldn't help herself also adding a snarky, "Obviously."

"Obviously?" Lucy repeated slightly annoyed, mimicking her intonation. She really didn't have the patience to deal with the history of their relationship at the moment.

Jessica narrowed her eyes at her, "You do remember that I met him first, don't you? If it wasn't for me, you probably never would have met him."

"Yes of course I remember," Lucy said at once, feeling guilty all of a sudden. So it was true, Wyatt and Jessica had been together before she came along, and then she somehow had messed up everything between them. It didn't sound like her at all, or like Wyatt, but their other versions might have been different in this regard. "I just didn't realise that you had feelings for him," Lucy continued conciliatorily, hoping that this comment didn't sound ignorant.

Jessica grimaced, "Of course you didn't, I wasn't stupid enough to mention any of this after the two of you clashed heads."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked with bated breath.

"Are you serious now?" Jessica started to laugh all of a sudden. "You know, it was actually hilarious watching the two of you falling head over heels in love, without either of you even noticing it. Have I ever told you that Wyatt tried to deny it at first?"

Lucy automatically denied the question, causing Jessica to laugh even harder, "No, seriously, he actually told to me that he can't stand you. He argued that you are an annoying know-it-all and way to bossy for his liking. God, he was so in love with you from the very first moment he laid eyes on you."

"And you," Jessica shook her head in amusement," Do you remember how you lamented non-stop about what a self-righteous, reckless hothead he was? Honestly, the two of you couldn't have been more obvious. I'm just glad I wasn't stupid enough to try things with Wyatt first, because I so would have lost out to you. I just know he would have dropped me like a hot potato after you came into the picture."

"Anyway," Jessica continued, "The thing is, I was, no actually I still am, jealous of you and what you have with him. That is what I want to, someone who loves me so completely like he loves you."

Lost for words, Lucy stared open-mouthed at her. If all of this was true, then the Wyatt of this timeline had chosen _her_ over _Jessica_ , his lighting bolt, his only-one. This revelation made her light-headed and giddy at the same time, until she remembered that her Wyatt didn't do any of this. He was being forced into this relationship with her, and he just gave up on his chance to be with Jessica because of it. To spare her feelings, or whatever other noble attitude had caused him to do that.

But then all the awful things her mother had said, or at least suggested about Wyatt came back to her mind. The supposed fights, Wyatt's often absence, her mother thinking that he wasn't good enough for her. Suddenly disenchanted, Lucy couldn't help but burst out, "Are you two having an affair?"

"What? No!" Jessica exclaimed aghast, "Didn't you hear what I've just told you? I have no idea where that kiss came from, but I swear, Lucy, that is all that happened between us. Wyatt loves you, only you, I just know it. As for me, yes, I once had feelings for him, but that was a very long time ago. You have to believe me Lucy, all I feel for Wyatt these days is friendship."

Lucy nodded in acknowledgment, but her doubts didn't go away, nor did her guilt. This was Jessica, Wyatt's great love, there was no way he would rather be with her if he could have his real wife back. And for some absurd reason it also annoyed her that Jessica denied having feelings for Wyatt. He was a great person, he deserved to be loved back by her, so how could she simply say that she didn't feel anything but friendship for him?

For a moment Lucy felt the urge to tell her just that, to convince her that she was making a huge mistake if she gave up on him now. Lucy opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, another thought hit her. What if Jessica was lying?

"The other night, when you were babysitting for us, you told me that you were sorry for cancelling on Wyatt," Lucy said anxiously, "What was that about?"

Jessica frowned at her for a moment, then her face lit up when she remembered the incident, "You mean the night when you came back home dressed up in some weird old-fashioned costume?"

"Yes," Lucy confirmed impatiently.

"Well, I … I mean … come on Lucy, you know," Jessica tried to avoid the question.

"I wouldn't ask you, if I knew," Lucy said through gritted teeth.

"Fine," she sighed defeated, "I promised Wyatt that I would look after Florence that morning, but I, um, I was hung up, okay? I was out with some friends the night before and I guess I had too much to drink, so I overslept the next day. Wyatt was so pissed at me." Jessica blushed furiously at that admission, and Lucy thought that it only made her look even more lovely.

"But you must have known that already," Jessica insisted. "If I recall correctly, you had to cancel your class that morning so that Wyatt could make it in time for his appointment with his boss."

"His boss?" Lucy repeated hoarsely.

"Yeah!" Jessica suspiciously narrowed her eyes on her, but apparently decided to let it go, "Anyway, I'm really sorry, I let you guys down that day, and I'm so glad that you still made at least it to this experimental history workshop of yours. I mean, I don't think that would be something I would like to do, but the costume did look great on you."

"Uhm, thanks," Lucy muttered absentmindedly, Jessica had just provided her with yet another new piece of information that would affect their new life immensely. So Wyatt had some kind of job after all. That was good news of course, and she couldn't wait to tell him.

But first she had to digest all the other things she had found out today. How was she supposed to break the heart-wrenching truth to him that Jessica didn't have any feelings for him anymore? And even worse, that they never even have been together in the first place, let alone married? And it was entirely her fault.

xxx

"Hi, is Rufus at home?" Lucy asked when the door opened. Coming here had been a spur of the moment decision. Whenever she couldn't talk to Wyatt for some reason, Rufus was the next best choice, and there was absolutely no way she could talk to Wyatt yet about everything that Jessica had disclosed to her only half an hour earlier. She really could need a neutral perspective first, and so she decided to delay her trip to her mother and went straight to Rufus instead.

"Sure, come on in!" Eileen said, making room for Lucy to pass her. "How is Amy?" she added.

"Amy?" Lucy asked bewildered, wondering how it was possible that Rufus' mother knew her sister, but then it dawned on her that she was taking about Florence.

"Oh Amy, great, Amy is doing great," she said awkwardly, sure that Eileen could see right through her. "Though her name is actually Florence," Lucy therefore admitted before she could stop herself, and immediately regretted it when she saw Eileen's sceptical face. "You see, Amy is actually her middle name. And we were just using it for a while because it is easier to pronounce," she hastily tried to fix the damage, but realised that she was rather making it worse. Not only had she openly lied to Rufus' mother now, but her explanation also sounded incredible stupid.

"I see," Eileen said curtly, but Lucy could see and feel her disapproval. If the woman in front of her ever had had any respect for her, she probably had lost it in this instance. Ashamed of herself, Lucy averted her gaze.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them, then Eileen turned around abruptly, and called up the staircase, "RUFUS! YOU HAVE A VISITOR."

Standing tongue-tied in the entrance area together, Lucy's feeling of not being welcome grew stronger and stronger by the minute. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long though, "Lucy? What are you doing here so early?" Rufus called out while descending the stairs, "And where is Wyatt?"

"He is at home, watching Florence," Lucy said, still feeling Eileen's eyes on her. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" she added, pointing towards the door.

"Yeah sure," Rufus said, letting his gaze wander between Lucy and his stern looking mother before he stirred Lucy back outside with his hand resting on the small of her neck.

"Sorry about that," Lucy muttered when they were outside and a few steps away from the house, "but I don't think your mother likes me very much."

Rufus snorted, "Well, she thinks I helped you kidnap a little girl."

Lucy's eyes widened in horror, "She does what?"

"Relax!" Rufus soothed her immediately, "I already told her that it is just her imagination. Doesn't stop her from watching the news non-stop though, in case anything about a missing little girl pops up," he added as an afterthought.

"Are you kidding me?" Lucy said unnerved, realising only just now how suspicious her stupid comment about the names must have sounded. "Rufus this is bad, if she calls the authorities and we can't prove that Florence belongs to us, they could take her away."

"Lucy, she is not going to call the authorities, I promise," Rufus said, grabbing both of her shoulders firmly. "Besides, even if that would happen, what exactly are you afraid of? Florence is without doubt your daughter."

"But … but," Lucy stammered frantic, "We don't even have her birth certificate," now regretting even more that she didn't make it a priority to look for it and all the other important documents that might come in handy sooner or later.

"Her birth certificate? Seriously?" Rufus snorted again, "I'm pretty sure no one is going to take your child away just because you can't find the birth certificate right away."

Lucy nodded at that. Of course that wasn't going to happen, but she still felt uneasy just thinking about the possibility. Just because she and Wyatt looked exactly like her parents, did that automatically made them her parents? What if a DNA test would prove that they were imposters?

"Anyway," Rufus startled her out of her thoughts, "I'm guessing that is not why you came here, is it? So what else is on your mind?"

Lucy sighed deeply, trying to focus again on the reason why she went to Rufus instead of going to her mother's, to retrieve Florence's favourite toy.

"Wyatt kissed Jessica and…," she started after a moment of consideration.

"He did what?" Rufus cried out, obviously taken by surprise. "When did that happen?"

"Uhm, yesterday," Lucy frowned, wondering why that was important. "But that is not the point," she continued, "the point is that for some reason he didn't go through with it, even though I said it was fine with me." Rufus groaned at that, but didn't say anything else so Lucy went on, "I mean she is his wife, so it was the right thing to do, wasn't it?"

"I don't know," Rufus grimaced.

"But that wasn't even the worst of it," Lucy admitted, "I actually ran into Jessica this morning, and … and she apologized to me."

"Okayyy…," Rufus said slowly, not getting the problem here.

"I feel so awful, Rufus," Lucy said despondent, "like I stole Wyatt from her. Which is ridiculous, I know, but it doesn't change the fact how I feel about it."

"Lucy, that is not…," but she wouldn't let him finish his protest and went on, "I mean technically she is the homewrecker, but the whole time _I_ wanted to apologize to _her_. I should have been angry, right? But I wasn't, at least not for her kissing my so-called husband, no, I got angry when she told me that she doesn't love him, or better that she doesn't love him _anymore_. How absurd is that? I actually wanted to assure her that she was wrong about Wyatt, that it is her he loves and not me…"

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rufus muttered under his breath.

"… I almost begged her to give him a second chance," Lucy admitted then.

"You didn't though, did you?" Rufus asked alarmed. He was quite certain that Wyatt wouldn't be very happy if she had.

Lucy shook her head. "No, I couldn't," she whispered, hanging her head in shame. "I chickened out in the very last second."

"Oh good!" Rufus exclaimed relieved.

Lucy frowned at him. "That is not good, Rufus, I could have done Wyatt a big favor if I had," Lucy started to beat herself up. "When we first came here, to this reality, I briefly had a feeling that Jessica might be back, and I vowed to myself that I would help him get her back, but I …" she trailed off.

"Lucy," Rufus said tentatively, "you are allowed to be a little selfish once in a while. If Wyatt wants Jessica back, he has to do it himself. No one expects you to do it for him."

"Yeah, but…"

"NO, Lucy!" Rufus interrupted her right away. "This is Wyatt's choice, and he has to with it on his own."

"But that is the thing," Lucy retorted, "It wasn't exactly his choice, but the other Wyatt's choice. Our Wyatt is just too noble, or too afraid, or, I don't know what made him reject her, but I know it isn't what he truly wants.

Jessica also told me that they weren't even together in this timeline. Can you imagine that? In fact, according to Jessica, her Wyatt _chose_ _me_ over _her_. Can you believe that, because I surely can't. So I'm not only keeping him away from her now, but my other self also got into his way a few years ago and prevented him from being with the love of his life. And when Wyatt hears about this, he is going to hate me." Lucy had said all of this very fast, hardly taking a breath between words and sentences, and now that she finally had got all of this off her chest, she was feeling slightly better, but also quite drained. The constant up and down of her emotions were taking a toll on her, and she had no idea how to end this horrible rollercoaster ride.

Rufus looked at her in complete shock. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but he had promised Wyatt to stay out of this, and so he simply said, "Don't be ridiculous, he could never hate you, Lucy."

xxx

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you would be busy right now getting ready for your date with Jiya," Wyatt greeted Rufus when he answered the door.

"What the hell, man?" Rufus attacked him immediately, completely ignoring Wyatt's comment. "You kissed Jessica? When exactly did that happen? Was it before or after you told me that you are head over heels in love with Lucy? Because I swear if it was after…"

"Before!" Wyatt assured him quickly, "Definitely before."

Rufus was still fuming, pacing agitated back and forth in front of the door. "Sooo, I guess you talked to Lucy then?" Wyatt probed tentatively, feeling slightly hurt that Lucy would turn to Rufus with something that Wyatt considered a private matter. But once again he was ignored.

"How could you hurt her like that?" Rufus suddenly shot up, coming to a stop right in front of him and glared at him fiercely. Surprised, Wyatt took a step backwards. It was not that he was really scared of Rufus, but seeing him so angry made him actually wary about what he was going to do next.

"I didn't …" Wyatt started, but Rufus wouldn't let him finish.

"Let me ask you a question, Wyatt," he said in a dangerously low voice. "Does being an ass come naturally to you, or do have to work hard for it?"

Wyatt had never thought it would be possible, but in this very moment, he really wanted to punch the crap out of Rufus. "You think this is easy for me?" he asked instead, clenching his hands up in tight fists. "Do you honestly think I want to hurt Lucy?"

"No, but you did a very good job at it," Rufus said through clenched teeth, still glaring him down.

"Oh, yeah? Do you have any idea what it was like for me to suddenly see my dead wife again?" Wyatt wanted to know. "A wife that I loved very much," he emphasised.

"No, but I have a pretty good idea what it is like seeing you and Lucy fall in love with each other, and then having to witness you throw all of this away for a woman that you don't even know, not truly anyway. I just don't get it, Wyatt."

Wyatt flinched at that comment. Had he actually ruined everything with Lucy now? It just had been a kiss for god's sake, hardly more than a peck, and he didn't even enjoy it. Hell, he didn't even want to be alone with her that day. That had been Lucy's idea.

"You know she is not your wife, don't you?" Rufus demanded to know.

"Of course I do," Wyatt spat back, then sighed tormented and ran his hand through his hair, "At least I do now."

He said the last bit in such a defeated sounding way, that Rufus finally took pity on him, "I'm sorry, I know all of this must be hard for you."

Wyatt nodded absentmindedly, but his thoughts had already drifted to something else. "So, Lucy was actually hurt?" he asked guiltily, but also hopeful. If she truly was hurt then that also meant that she had feelings for him, right?

"Of course she was hurt, you idiot," Rufus flared up again. "Although, well…" he added much calmer, almost sheepish.

"Although what?" Wyatt asked nervously, swallowing hard in anticipation.

"I'm not entirely sure anymore if she is indeed in love with you," Rufus dropped the bomb on Wyatt. "She could be, or maybe not. It's hard to tell, actually."

"Rufus!" Wyatt groaned in frustration, "Just yesterday you told me you were sure and now you are suddenly not? What the hell happened?"

"Lucy ran into Jessica this morning, and she said she wanted to convince her to give you another chance," Rufus summarized.

"What?" Wyatt groaned exasperated. "Why would she do something like that?"

"I don't know," Rufus admitted, "That's the problem. I think she either was trying to do you a favor because she loves you, but doesn't think you love her back, or because she cares for you as a friend and finally wants to see you happy again."

"Great!" Wyatt growled darkly, "And how do I find out now which one it is?"

* * *

 _Don't forget to tell me what you think, because I really like to hear your opinion!_ :)


	15. Date Nights - Sort of!

**15\. Date Night – Sort of**

Wyatt didn't waste any time after Rufus was gone. It felt like he was running out of time and Lucy was slipping through his fingers right before his eyes. He knew he had to step up his game, better sooner than later, he just had no idea how. He already did a lot of things that he would do if he was trying to court someone, like cooking dinner for said person, or watch a movie together. He even brought her flowers a couple of days ago when he returned form the grocery store. Fine, that wasn't entirely his idea, but rather the easiest solution after Florence had pulled them out of their container, but still!

But that also was the problem, they simply jumped the stage of dating and went right to the happily ever after, complete with marriage and kid. Too bad though that strictly speaking this wasn't _their_ happily ever after. At least not yet.

And until then, he really should start being nicer to her, and a lot more attentive. Complementing her whenever he thought she looked stunning, or blew him away with her wits, or made him laugh because she was intentional or unintentional funny. And from now on, he swore, would he actually say these things aloud, and not just in his thoughts.

Had she really contemplated to beg Jessica to give him a second chance? Wyatt didn't know if he should be touched by such a heartfelt gesture, or really pissed off that she felt the need to help him out, when he so clearly didn't want it. It probably was a mixture of both, but it certainly confirmed his believe that Lucy was the most special person he ever had met, especially if Rufus' initial assertion was right, and she was in love with him as well.

Only Lucy could be so selfless to put him in front of her own happiness like that. Too bad though that she only would have achieved the opposite and would have made him even more miserable if she had gone through with it. Still, it made him love her even more.

A giggle pulled him out of his thoughts, and he could hardly brace himself in time, before he was hit by a force of nature that collided unbridled with his legs and then clung to them tightly.

Grinning, Wyatt looked down into the beaming face of his daughter and once again couldn't believe the love he felt for her. Why hadn't anyone told him before what joy such a tiny person would bring to him? He had never felt more contented in his life, and he was determined to keep things the way they were right now. Well, maybe not exactly like they were right now, he wouldn't mind if things between him and Lucy would approve significantly, but all in all, life was good for the time being.

"You are one lucky girl, you know that?" Wyatt asked, picking her up and threw her up in the air, making Florence shout with glee when he caught her again. "Being her daughter automatically guarantees you a permanent spot in her heart, whereas your poor old dad still has to work very hard for it. Well, I guess it serves me right for being such an idiot," he sighed dramatically. "But as I already told you yesterday, you can help. See, I was thinking about making dinner a bit more special tonight. It won't be too extravagant, mind you, I don't want to scare her away, but the both of us still have to dress up for the occasion. Do you like that?"

Florence nodded enthusiastically, but otherwise didn't seem to care what he was telling her. She was far more interested in undoing the top button of his shirt and then concentrated on fixing the damage again. Amused, Wyatt watched her unsuccessful attempts for a while, then he kissed her forehead affectionately.

"Okay, let's see if you possess anything else besides shirts and pull-on pants," he announced and with Florence in his arms, he went upstairs.

x

"How come you don't have any dresses or skirts?" he asked Florence, skimming through the drawers. "I mean you are a girl, aren't you? Didn't they think you would look cute in a, I don't know, a floral dress or something? That's what little girls like you love to wear, isn't it?"

"No!" Florence denied, helping him by throwing the contents of her dresser onto the floor.

"Aha!" he announced triumphant when he at last spotted what he was looking for. He held the dress up high for a closer inspection. It was bright blue, had a lace hem and was decorated with butterflies. "I think this will do."

"No!" Florence shrieked when she saw the dress in Wyatt's hands, and tried to make a run for it, but he was too quick for her. Not willing to admit defeat so easily, she kept fighting every one of his attempts to force her into it until he finally gave up.

Disappointed, Wyatt first looked at the cute-looking dress and then at his angered, red-faced daughter. Apparently there had been a good reason why that dress had been hidden at the very back of the drawer, he determined sadly, realising that his plans for charming Lucy didn't go as smooth as he hoped.

"Alright," he sighed, putting the dress aside before reaching out for Florence again. "No dress, I promise, but maybe we can do something with your hair instead," he contemplated, running his hand over the silky texture of the dark disarray, wondering how long it would even last if he gave it a brush. "I'll be right back," he grinned suddenly when an idea struck him.

Florence watched him warily when he returned armed with a hairbrush and two scrunchies.

"I'm not an expert on the latest hair fashion for toddlers, but I always thought that pigtails look cute on girls about your age. So what do you think? Are you okay if we try this at least?"

Florence didn't exactly agree, and he didn't expect her to, but as she didn't openly disagree with him either, Wyatt knelt down beside her once more and started straightening out the unruly mess on her head, before arranging it into pigtails.

They ended up a little lopsided, but all in all, it turned out better then he feared it would, and he thought the imperfection actually made her look even cuter. Satisfied with his work, he planted a kiss on top of her head and muttered, "No way she is going to resist you."

x

Then they went to find something decent for him to wear, which turned out to be equally complicated.

"Oh come on," Wyatt muttered when he pulled yet another faded jeans out of the closet, "Please don't tell me that you never took her out!"

Wyatt couldn't believe what pathetic loser must have owned the closet before he turned up in this timeline. There was no way the guy could have gone to anything formal with these clothes, and he was certain that Lucy had to attend a few of those events, not only due to her family, but also because of her profession. So did that mean that other-him let her go there on her own? No wonder her mother thought he was a douchebag.

x

Wyatt stared with disdain at the tuxedo in his hands. Sure, it was by far the fanciest piece of clothing in his possession right now, but he only wanted to have a nice dinner with Lucy, and not propose to her.

In the end he settled on a pair of newish-looking, dark blue jeans and a white shirt. It wasn't exactly what he had had in mind, but it had to do for today.

"Okay, so here is the deal," Wyatt said, ushering Florence out of the bedroom, "After dinner, Lucy and I need a little privacy tonight, so you have to be a super behaved child for a change and go to sleep without your usual fuss," Wyatt elucidated sternly. "Which means you only get to listen to one story, and I'm actually trying to get you ready for bed in time for a change. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Yes!" Florence nodded, looking up at him, and Wyatt was literally speechless for a moment, wondering if she ever had agreed with him verbally before. He had gotten so used to her constant no, that he didn't even expect hearing anything else from her anymore.

"What are you doing?" he cried out in exasperation, kneeling down in front of her. "You are not supposed to agree with me. I love you to pieces, I really do, but you are not making this parenting thing easy. Why would you start agreeing with me now that I was just noticing the slight variations in the way you say no, and was finally able to draw my conclusions from them? I admit that there was still a lot of guesswork involved, but I was actually making process, and then you suddenly decide to change it to a yes? That's not fair!"

Florence laughed at him, and Wyatt was sure that it actually sounded a lot as if she was gloating at his misery.

"You are a terrible kid," he decided fondly, tickling her belly to give her a real reason to laugh.

xxx

Where the hell was she again, Wyatt wondered, checking his watch for the umpteenth time. Even with her detour to Rufus she should have been back hours ago. So what was taking her so long to pick up that darn toy?

Running his hands agitated through his hair, he started pacing in front of the carefully decorated table. Dinner was almost ready and if she didn't turn up within the next 30 minutes, it probably would be ruined. Still eatable, yes, but not perfect.

Just when he was about to change direction again, he heard a car pull up in front of the house and shortly after a slamming door. Wyatt gulped nervously, if she was in a bad mood, then even the most delicious, perfectly cooked dinner couldn't help him any longer.

"She tricked me," Lucy huffed angrily when she stormed into the kitchen a few moments later. "And I fell for it."

"What happened?" Wyatt asked surprised, he had seen Lucy this upset only a few times before at the beginning of their missions, and usually it was because he stubbornly refused to listen to her.

"My mother happened," she spat out, "She told me that a _friend_ of hers wanted to ask me a favor, and before I even had the chance to object, she had already shoved the receiver into my hands. And guess who that friend was, NOAH!"

As much as he wanted to sympathize with her, Wyatt couldn't help but laugh out loud at her scandalised face.

"This is not funny!" Lucy shrieked distressed. "By the time I realised who I was talking to, I already had agreed to show him around campus."

That revelation wiped the grin right from Wyatt's face, but Lucy was still too agitated to notice this little victory.

"Oh, it was very cleverly done as well," she said, pacing along the same spot on the floor that he had just maltreated. "We talked about my work. He asked a lot of questions, and now that I think of it, I'm sure my mother instructed him to ask them, because there is no other way he would have known exactly what I'm most excited about when it comes to history. Anyway, he was nice, overly interested and complimentary the whole time. It was rather flattering, I have to admit."

Wyatt pouted when he heard that. What Noah had done sounded a lot like what had been planning to do this evening.

"And don't ask me why I agreed, because I have no idea," Lucy continued fumingly, "Inwardly I was screaming no, but what came out of my mouth instead was, _of course we can do that if you want to!_ Can you believe that?"

No, he couldn't. It was like his worst nightmare was slowly but surely putting on a human shape. A shape that looked an awfully lot like this Noah fellow, even though Wyatt had no idea what that guy actually looked like.

"And if that wasn't bad enough already, my mother shipped in as well," Lucy almost cried now out of anger, "Suggesting very loudly that we could go out to have some dinner afterwards. He of course was immediately keen on _this lovely idea_ , and all I did was standing there totally dumbstruck, unable to say no to them."

He should be angry, shouldn't he? Here he was, trying to figure out how he could make a move on her, and then this Noah guy came along and just did what he couldn't for some reason. But to his surprise, Wyatt suddenly found the whole situation hilarious.

This was a new experience for him. Up to this point, he had always been more of a jealous and impulsive kind of guy, acting before thinking when it came to his feelings.

He had been possessive around Lucy long before he even had thought about her in this way, and he definitely had had his fair share of jealousy during his time with Jessica. Hell, this annoying habit was part of the reason why she had died in the first place.

But now, when he actually had a cause to be angry and jealous, all of a sudden he couldn't even sense a hint of this all too well known dread.

On the contrary really, he had never been surer that at least in regards of Noah, he had nothing to be afraid of. The expression on Lucy's face made it more than clear. It was a mixture of shock, anger, disdain and disbelief that made it hard for him to keep a straight face and not burst out laughing very hard.

Granted, he knew that at the moment these feelings were rather directed towards her mother than Noah, but Lucy had had more than a few chances to go after him, if she truly had wanted to, and so far every one of these chances were instantly ignored by her, so he was fairly certain that she didn't feel anything for him that would justify his jealousy.

"So?" Wyatt shrugged amused, "Call him back and tell him that you changed your mind."

"I can't do that," Lucy groaned frustrated, "That wouldn't be right."

"Well, you have a child, tell him something got into the way, like I don't know, you couldn't find a babysitter, or that she isn't feeling so well," Wyatt suggested.

"You realise that he is a doctor and apparently also loves children, don't you?" she countered so fast that it was obvious that she had already thought about any of these options.

Wyatt grimaced. He had indeed forgotten about that.

"Besides," Lucy continued exasperated, "You have seen me lie, right? I'm not very good at it, he would see right through it."

"I don't know," Wyatt grinned smugly, "I witnessed and experienced first hand how you put on a very convincing stage play for a couple of robbers and killers."

"That was not … I didn't…," Lucy spluttered, stopping herself just in time before saying that for her it wasn't a stage play at all. "Point is, I can't do it, Wyatt."

Wyatt only nodded his head absentmindedly, and Lucy wondered if he had even heard one single word of what she had said. It certainly didn't seem like he had, and it made her angry. He was supposed to be her friend, and he behaved like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. So he didn't love her, big deal, but he promised that he would protect her and that he would take care of her, but right now he wasn't doing either of this.

"Wyatt?" Lucy called for his attention, her voice wavering between desperate and indignant that he wasn't angry about this at all.

"Maybe that is not such a bad idea, actually," Wyatt said suddenly, deep in thoughts.

"What is?"

"Inviting Noah over for dinner!" Wyatt clarified, still pondering on something.

"Geez thanks!" Lucy snapped. "You know that you can just divorce me if you want to get rid of me, don't you? Just say the word and I'm gone."

"That is _so_ not going to happen," Wyatt muttered under his breath while Lucy ranted on, "I can't believe you actually consider selling me off to the next available guy. A guy that I don't even like, I should mention."

Now Wyatt openly smirked at her, "He seems to be a nice enough fellow though. At least according to everything you have told me about him."

Lucy stared daggers at him, "Well, he is nice, but that still doesn't give you the right to set me up with him."

"I also think we should invite Jessica," Wyatt continued unperturbed. "I mean we don't want anyone to feel like a fifth wheel, do we?"

Shocked, Lucy gaped at him in disbelief. "Ingenious, Wyatt, you get rid of your new wife and get your old one back at the same time."

Wyatt actually snorted at that. "Actually my idea is to get rid of our past, Lucy," he clarified calmly.

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Lucy groaned in frustration. She wasn't in the mood for riddles and that guy was highly infuriating at the moment with all his hints and suggestions and that stupid smirk on his face that made him so annoyingly handsome.

"Jess and me," Wyatt shook his head no, "that is not going to happen anymore. She is not the same Jess that I remember, or maybe I'm not the same Wyatt I used to be, I don't know. And all she does is reminding me of that fact. But I do still care about her. So I thought that we can hook her up with your past instead. I want her to be happy, and this Noah guy _does_ sound all right. Even if your mother would agree with that as well. So I figured they might actually have a chance to make it work."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked bewildered, not even responding to his bold suggestion. "I heard you talking to Florence over the baby monitor yesterday, about your plans to take Jessica out on a date."

"I want to do what?" Wyatt croaked astounded, before he realised that she somehow must have drawn the wrong conclusion from the overheard parts of his conversation with Florence. "God damn it, Lucy," he muttered. So that is why she almost begged Jessica to give him another chance. He was such an idiot, how could he have forgotten about the baby monitor? He needed to set her straight. "I wasn't talking about Jessica, I was talking about …,"

But Lucy didn't even hear his mumbled attempt of an explanation because at the same time, she noticed the romantic looking candles on the well-laid table, "Do you expect a power outage any time soon?" she asked suspicious. "Or should I better leave you alone for a few hours?"

Wyatt cursed inside, thanks to the new drama, he had totally forgotten about his plans this evening. "Um, no," he stammered, taken by surprise. "I just thought we could celebrate a little tonight, after all, we have survived an entire week as parents now," he shrugged nonchalantly, "And amazingly, the kid is still alive as well, so …yeah."

"Oh!" was all Lucy said, and Wyatt felt his heart drop. If she already reacted this way to a totally innocent-looking evening with him, then what would she say if she knew that his real intentions weren't so innocent at all?

xxx

"Do you really think inviting Jessica to the dinner with Noah is a good idea?" Lucy asked uncertain, shortly after they had sat down to eat.

"Well, to be honest with you, I don't know," Wyatt confessed, "But I do think we have to clear the air between us. What I've done is …," he trailed off for a moment, searching for the right words to describe his behaviour, "… mean, I guess. Anyway, I don't want _her_ to feel guilty for what has happened, so I thought inviting her would be a good way to apologize."

Lucy wasn't convinced yet, "And you believe that bringing her into another awkward situation would be the way to do it?"

"If you say it like that, no, but I'm actually convinced that the whole ordeal is going to be less awkward with a fourth person around that has nothing to do with your mother's scheme," Wyatt argued.

"I don't know," Lucy sighed, obviously torn between two equally undesirable scenarios, and Wyatt couldn't blame her. The prospect of spending a whole evening with his ex couldn't be very appealing to her. But then, the alternative was just having him and Noah there and that probably wasn't a pleasant concept either. Maybe it would be better, and simpler, to just get it over with and call it off entirely, but… "But you also said that you want to set them up," Lucy reminded them both, worried, revealing unknowingly that she had been indeed thinking along similar lines as him.

To her surprise, Wyatt chuckled at that, "Well, that was just a spur of the moment thing. I kind of like the idea though, our ex-partners finding their happily ever after together in this timeline, thanks to us, when we were the reason they got hurt in previous ones."

He gave her an indifferent shrug while she contemplated his words, wondering if his reasoning sounded as lame to her as it did to him, especially when his real motivations were much more selfish than he dared Lucy to know.

The truth was, he wanted to get rid of them, plain and simply. He wanted Noah out of the way before Lucy could see in him what this other version of her had once seen, and would leave him for that pompous jerk.

As for Jessica, he knew now that he didn't love her anymore, but the thought of her hanging around Lucy because of their supposed friendship made him highly uncomfortable, particularly after Rufus had told him what Lucy had tried to do this morning. No, it would be better for all of them if Noah and Jessica fell madly in love with each other, and then made themselves scarce for a while. The perfect solution so to speak.

He was aware of course that this was only wishful thinking on his part, but he also was convinced that it at least was worth a try.

Lucy regarded him for a while, highly amused, "You never cease to surprise me," she grinned broadly, "Who would have thought that Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan would be such a soppy romantic?"

xxx

They had agreed to meet outside the restaurant, but meanwhile, Rufus regretted this decision. What if this Jiya would have preferred it if he had picked her up at home? He knew that the Jiya he used to know didn't care for this kind of chivalry, but maybe this Jiya did, and she was just too shy, or restraint or even modest to say something. At least he should have offered to do so.

He nervously paced back and forth on the pavement while his gaze flickered restless from on direction to the other. What if she had second thoughts and didn't show up at all?

In a twinge of panic, he fumbled for his phone and almost let it drop onto the ground in his haste to check it for messages.

There were none, so he let the phone slide back into his pocket, and still wasn't wiser if that was a good or bad thing. Any kind of message would at least have given him a clue where he stood with her now.

And then, as if on cue, the doubts were back, if he was doing the right thing by letting Jiya in on their secret. Granted, in principle she knew everything about time travel already and therefore was more prone than most people to believe him, but a tiny little bit of risk remained, and he felt like a damn fool to tempt it.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," a breathless voice suddenly said behind him and Rufus immediately wheeled around. "I was kind of lost in this new game I have, and completely forgot the time," Jiya admitted honestly, cringing her face up in the same exact way that Rufus remembered so well. She always looked like that whenever she did something that was embarrassing or unpleasant for her, or that made her feel guilty.

It marvelled him to no end that she would be so brutally honest with him. After all, it would have been so much easier to tell him that the traffic was bad, or that she got delayed for some other highly important reason, but no, she straight forward admitted that she was too absorbed in a computer game to make it in time for their date.

Rufus felt a huge grin spread across his face, having this so typically Jiya moment with her was so sublime that he almost couldn't believe it. "You know, you could have just called me and invite me over," he replied laughing, "But I have to warn you, I'm unbeatable at most of those games."

"Are you now?" Jiya smiled back, "Fine, I'll accept the challenge, next time it is game on."

Next time, Rufus repeated happily in his head. They didn't even have their first date yet and she was already talking about meeting him again. That must be a good sign, right?

xxx

Lucy couldn't remember the last time she had been so content and happy. Who would have thought that this awful day would end so pleasantly? She wasn't sure if should believe that celebrating their newfound parenthood was the only reason, or just part of the reason for this dinner, but she was glad that Wyatt had come up with the idea. She so badly had needed something like this. Just talking, laughing and enjoying each others company was heavenly after all the heartache, fights and awkward situations. It also felt unmistakably domestic, and if she wasn't careful, she would completely loose herself in this welcoming feeling.

In a moment of comfortable silence, Lucy watched mesmerized as Wyatt leaned over to cut up more of Florence's food. For a blissful minute, time seemed to stand still, while Lucy tried to absorb every feeling that cute scene in front of her was evoking inside of her.

But then Florence sneezed loudly, and time was running at full speed again while Lucy observed in horror how bits and pieces of chewed up carrots and potatoes flew out of Florence's full mouth and all over Wyatt.

The silence that followed wasn't comfortable any longer but deafening. Wyatt was paralysed in his movement. His face was screwed up in disgust, while the mix of spittle, snot and food run down his cheeks and dropped down onto his once clean, white shirt. Florence looked at him with big, frightened eyes, almost as if she was awaiting a stern lecture or punishment at any moment.

And then Lucy couldn't hold it in any longer. After the initial shock, she had been shaken with silent laughter, and now it suddenly burst out of her in full force. Wyatt's face was just too priceless.

Infected by her mother's laughter, Florence started to laugh as well. At first only tentatively, her gaze flickering uncertain between both her parents, but soon it got louder and more boisterous with each passing second.

"Very funny," Wyatt grumbled, reaching for a napkin to wipe the gooey mess from his face.

"I'm sorry," Lucy chortled, while tears of laughter began rolling down her cheeks, "But you look ridiculous."

Wyatt glared at her, but the slight twitch around the corner of his mouth gave him away, and at last he too joined in the laughter.

"What are you doing," Wyatt complained to Florence once they all had calmed down again, "This is not what we agreed on, you promised you would behave tonight."

Lucy wiped the last remains of tears out of her eyes and then frowned at him, "You made her promise to behave? Why?"

Caught off guard, Wyatt shrugged abashed before a roguish grin appeared on his face, "Well uh … I mean, it is obvious, isn't it? This was supposed to be an opportunity for us to celebrate our unexpected parenthood, and not to regret it."

"I'm not regretting it at all," Lucy said mischievous, picking up their besmirched daughter. "I'm quite enjoying the show, actually. A great performance on both sides with a perfect sense for timing."

"You know," Wyatt said, following her out of the room, "You are not as funny as you think you are."

Well, Lucy thought when they all went to the bathroom to get cleaned up, this wasn't the same placid atmosphere anymore as it was before, but still undeniable domestic, just another form of it.

xxx

So far the evening went better than Rufus had expected. There was no awkwardness or uncomfortable silence between them whatsoever, like there had been on this doomed first date with her in his original timeline. They didn't even feel the need to make small talk, but jumped right to the good stuff. Thanks to her entrance, they first continued to argue about various games for the sake of convenience, then they went from there over to movies and even books they liked. It was a natural process and actually made Rufus forget that she wasn't the same Jiya he knew from his previous timeline.

"So," Jiya eventually stirred the conversation to the reason they went on this date in the first place. "You said you wanted to tell me if Mason had tried to build a time machine before."

"Right," Rufus said after swallowing his last bite. Feeling nervous again all of a sudden, he put his cutlery down and braced himself for the task ahead. This was his one and only chance to convince her. From here on, he either had the closest thing to his Jiya back, or he would lose her for good. It all depended on how he was going to tell her the story and if she believed him. One thing he was sure of though, he had sworn to himself that he would be completely honest with her and wouldn't hold anything back, and he had every intention to go through with that.

"First of all, you have to promise me that what I'm about to tell you is going to stay between us," Rufus implored her urgently.

"Okay," Jiya replied uncertain, startled by the serious turn this evening had taken all of a sudden. "I promise!"

"Good," Rufus said relieved. "I have to warn you though, some of the things I'm going to tell you aren't very pleasant, or hard to digest, or even unbelievable, or …"

"Rufus!" Jiya interrupted him eagerly, "I got that. Will just start telling me this big secret of yours already? I'm about to die here in anticipation."

"Fine! Um, to answer your question, yes, Mason has built a time machine before," Rufus revealed before he made a dramatic pause, giving her time for the news to sink in.

xxx

"You have a job too, by the way," Lucy started the conversation after they had sat down again to continue their dinner.

"I do? Seriously?" Wyatt asked surprised, "How on earth did you find that out?"

"Um, Jessica," Lucy mumbled sheepishly.

"Oh really?" Wyatt raised his eyebrows at her. When did the two of them have time to talk about jobs in all this mess? Not to mention his job in particular?

"Yes, she told me," Lucy admitted, averting her eyes almost guiltily and mumbled, "This morning."

Wyatt could feel his heart beat faster in anticipation. After their talk about the upcoming dinner with Noah, they had been avoiding any topic that had to do with his former wife, and now Lucy actually brought it up herself. That was kind of unexpected.

"You talked to Jessica this morning?" he asked, at the same time trying to sound surprised and nonchalant, but also interested.

"Well, not by choice," Lucy grimaced, and Wyatt instantly felt a pang of remorse shoot through him. "She approached me right in front of the house to apologize."

For a while, she didn't say anything else after that, and Wyatt waited anxiously for her to continue, wondering if she was going to reveal more about this encounter. Maybe even something that could give him a clue how she was feeling about him. But to his disappointment, she didn't. "Anyway, your job came up during the conversation," she quickly concluded.

"And?" Wyatt prompted.

"And what?" Lucy frowned.

"What is it?" he asked, grinning at her confusion, "What am I doing these days?"

"Oh, of course," Lucy laughed, "I don't know though. All Jessica mentioned was that you run late to meet your boss the other day because of her."

She gave him an apologetic shrug, "Sorry, but I think it would have been more than a little suspicious if I had started interrogating her about your job, don't you agree?"

"I guess so," Wyatt sighed in defeat, "It doesn't matter anyway."

"Why is that?"

"It's been a week, Lucy!" Wyatt pointed out. "So unless I conveniently have a few days off right now, I hardly think that I'm keeping this job much longer."

"You don't know that," Lucy immediately tried to sooth him. "At the very least, we should find out what exactly it is you are doing before you give up."

Wyatt let her argumentation sink in for a moment, then he smiled at her, "You are right, as always, we could at least try that. I just hope, I didn't end up with some boring desk job," he added darkly as an afterthought.

xxx

"Wow! So that's it?" Jiya burst out disappointed after a while when Rufus still hadn't said anything else. "That is your big secret? Mason tried to build a time machine before. Shocking! No wonder the suspense was killing me. Definitely worth to keep it just between the two of us."

"Shhh," Rufus squeaked horrified, "Keep your voice down! And pay a closer attention to what I just said," he continued hastily, "I didn't say that Mason _tried_ to build a time machine, I said that he actually built one! Time travel is real, Jiya, and I have experienced it first hand."

"You what?" Jiya asked, sinking back against her chair, "How?"

"Well, I …"

"If what you say it true, then why did we have to start again from scratch?" Jiya started babbling uncontrollably in a whisper. "What happened? Did something go wrong? And why didn't Mason say something? I'm sure we could have used the old charts to determine the problem, but at least they could have been helpful as some kind of guidance."

"Jiya…"

"And who else knows about this? Does Anthony know? He must know, he works so closely with Mason."

"JIYA!" Rufus shouted as silently as he could to finally get her attention. And this time it worked, confused, she looked up at him as if she only now noticed that he was there too.

"It is more complicated than that," Rufus said. "Mason has built a time machine before, yes, but not in this timeline."

"Not in this …," Jiya repeated before she stopped abruptly. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that during our last jump the timeline has shifted and now we are trapped here, as we don't have a time machine any longer, because you guys haven't invented it yet," Rufus summarized quickly.

Whereas she couldn't stop talking before, Jiya now only stared at him with big eyes and an open mouth.

"I know how this must sound," Rufus continued when Jiya still wasn't speaking after a couple of minutes. Then he scrutinised her for another moment and said, "Actually, I have absolutely no idea how it sounds, but I swear all of it is true!"

xxx

"By the way," Lucy approached the next topic tentatively. "I didn't know you went to college."

She still felt awkward for simply assuming that he didn't go there even though she knew that he was smart and disciplined enough for it. Though, she hadn't known that when she met him, she argued with her conscience, and he hadn't done anything to disprove her first impression of him for quite some time.

On the contrary, she realised, he more or less had verified all her stereotyped ideas of the mindless soldier that would rather blindly follow orders than take a minute to think for himself.

Now of course she knew that she had been completely wrong about him, and probably about her view of his profession in general as well, and she felt highly ashamed for ever thinking that way.

"I didn't," Wyatt replied to her surprise, "What gave you that idea?"

"That too would have been Jessica," she revealed, feeling uneasy to bring her up once again.

Wyatt laughed at that, "Seriously? Well uh, I'm not sure what has happened in this timeline, but I can't imagine it could have been _that_ different. The truth is, Lucy, I hardly finished high school, so just the thought of me trying to apply for a community college is ridiculous. And I couldn't have afforded it even if I had wanted to."

"Oh, okay." Lucy needed a moment to recollect her thoughts, "I just thought…I mean she said that is where you two met, in college."

"Well," Wyatt chuckled, "That part is true. I met Jessica while she was in college. Not me though."

"In Ohio?" Lucy concluded. It wasn't exactly a question, but rather a ply for confirmation when something dawned on her. Could it be? "That's what you said, right, that you met in Ohio?"

"Yes."

"And that is also where we met," Lucy continued slowly, worried how he would react to the news that she was the reason he wasn't with Jessica any longer. "In this timeline, I mean. Jessica told me that she introduced us."

Wyatt frowned at her, and Lucy was getting more nervous by the minute, "So you are saying that you knew Jessica before we met?" he asked huskily, and Lucy wasn't sure if that meant that he was nervous too, or possibly on the brink of losing his temper. "How come? I mean, this doesn't make sense, as far as I know nothing has changed in my past, so how is it possible that we even met there? What where _you_ doing there?"

That was the tricky part. If Lucy was right, then one decision alone had changed her life, no their life, significantly, and she was afraid that this revelation would turn him against her.

"I think I know what has happened," she carefully approached the subject, and felt very uncomfortable when Wyatt's eyes immediately fixed on her. This was it, after her next sentence he either would silently accept the blow, or they would end up in yet another fight.

"A few years ago, I got offered this professor job at a small college in Yellow Springs, Ohio," she began nonetheless, "My dream job actually."

"But I turned it down because of my mother," Lucy said rueful, avoiding Wyatt's gaze as she knew that he would connect the dots at any moment, and she didn't want to see the anger and disapproval reflected in his eyes. "Anyway, I guess the version of me in this timeline took the job, so ..." she shrugged helpless, no clue what else she could say to deflect her guilt.

Now, waiting for his inevitable reaction, bad, or even worse, Lucy still wasn't looking at Wyatt, but was rather focusing on her plate where she pushed a few of the carrots around just to have something to do. Why wasn't he saying anything? The tension was almost unbearable and she wished it would be over soon.

"So all of this is your fault then," Wyatt snorted suddenly, "The house, the kid, everything?"

"I'm so sorry," Lucy breathed, finally chancing to look him into the eyes again.

"I'm not," Wyatt said, grinning broadly. "Thanks to you this little cutie here exists now," he said fondly, leaning over to poke their daughter into the side, making her squirm in protest.

"So you are not angry?" Lucy asked astounded.

"Angry?" Wyatt asked back, "Why the hell would I be angry about that?"

"Why? I don't know, perhaps because of this one decision you didn't marry Jessica like you were supposed to, but ended up with me instead?"

Wyatt flinched at that, and Lucy felt guilty all over again. Maybe she shouldn't have pointed his loss out so blatantly, and should just have chalked up his initial positive reaction as a small victory.

"Lucy," Wyatt said, staring at her intently, "None of this would have changed that in our timeline Jessica died a horrible death…"

"Yes but, …"

"No buts," Wyatt cut her protest short, "Thanks to this decision, Jessica is alive again, and I'm grateful for that, but that still doesn't change the fact that she is different. And to be honest, I can't even imagine now what it would have been like to come home to a wife that would have lived all of these years in a marriage that I have no recollection of. I simply don't believe any longer that that would have worked out."

Lucy opened her mouth to come forth with yet another counterargument, but Wyatt wouldn't let her, "Besides, I'm kind of enjoying our time together," he admitted coyly, shoving a piece of his steak into his mouth and started chewing it with a twinkle in his eyes.

Flustered, Lucy gaped at him. What was happening here, she wondered. Was he making fun of her now, or was this a poorly attempt at flirting. She wasn't sure, anything could be possible with Wyatt. Maybe it simply was his way to lighten the mood again. But then why was he still staring so intently at her? And what was up with this smug grin plastered all over his face? Lucy could feel the heat in her body raise in conformity with the tension between them when suddenly, an unmistakably smell reached them and the spell was broken.

Wyatt demonstratively let go of his cutlery, "I hope you are done eating," he said repulsed, "Because I'm not sure it's going to be a very pleasant experience from now on."

Lucy couldn't help but start laughing again. The appalled look on his face was hilarious.

"I should have known that it is a bad idea trying to have a somewhat fancy dinner with a toddler in the house," he grimaced. "Next time we have to bribe Rufus into taking care of her!"

"Oh come on Wyatt," Lucy cackled. "It's not like she is doing this on purpose, she just doesn't know any better."

"You think? Because I'm not so sure about that," Wyatt said darkly, eyeing his daughter suspiciously as she once again laughed along with Lucy at his misfortune.

"How about I quickly get her changed, and then we can continue this as if nothing has happened?" she offered in an appeasing manner, and was already halfway out of her seat when Wyatt hastily jumped to his feet. "I'll do it!" he insisted.

"O-okay," Lucy said taken aback, but let herself sink back onto her chair again. "If you insist."

"The dinner was my idea, and I want you to enjoy it, so …" he trailed off, "Anyway, I'll be right back. You better finish eating before everything gets stone-cold."

xxx

"So let me get this straight, this Flynn guy broke into Mason Industries to steal the time machine and is now merrily jumping through the centuries to change history?" Jiya repeated breathless, overwhelmed with what he had just told her.

"Basically, yes," Rufus confirmed, "Or at least that is what we are afraid he might do."

"And Anthony Bruhl is actually helping him?" she cried out.

"Yeah, well, that's the thing," Rufus stammered. "He was helping Flynn, but in my timeline he died a few weeks ago."

"So you are saying he is some kind of ghost?"

"No, yes, kind of, it's complicated." Rufus frowned in confusion, what was Anthony Bruhl now? "I think the correct term would be the living dead," he speculated, "Or simply undead?"

"But that doesn't make any sense," Jiya protested, and for a moment Rufus was terrified that she at last would accuse him of lying and leave. "I've known Anthony for quite some time now," she elaborated calmly, "He wouldn't do something like that."

"I've known him even longer," Rufus countered, "And I swear he was doing it."

Jiya shook her head no, still not willing to believe this.

"But to be fair, he had a superior reason for going along with this," Rufus added in commemoration of the friendship they once shared.

Jiya raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue.

"Ever heard of Rittenhouse?" Rufus asked, seemingly incoherent.

"You mean the whiskey? Of course I have," Jiya frowned in confusion. "What are you saying? That he was trying to steal the secret ingredient or something?"

"Huh?" Now it was Rufus time to be confused. "Are you for real? There is actually a whiskey with that name?" he cried out, his voice embarrassingly high.

"Yeah, why?"

"Actually, it doesn't matter, what I'm talking about is this evil, secret, ruthless, manipulative society that tries to control the past so that it is working in their favour and they get all the power for themselves in the future."

"Wait a minute," Jiya laughed, "So you are saying there is not only a rogue NSA agent on the loose, who is in possession of the time machine that we are still trying to invent, and who is using it to change history, but now there is also a secret society involved, who is trying to do the same? Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?"

"I know how crazy this sounds," Rufus said emphatically, "I warned you it would, but I swear it is the truth. So real the question here is, do you believe me?"

xxx

"You have to go," Wyatt insisted, readjusting the position of his sleepy daughter on his lap, "He is your father."

"No," Lucy replied sadly, "He is Amy's father. My father happens to be Benjamin Cahill."

Wyatt huffed at that, "No, he is not, believe me, there is more to a father than biology. Just because he provided the means …"

"The means?" Lucy interrupted him giggly.

"Yeah well, you know what I mean," he grinned back, with a side glance at Florence to explain his strange wording. "Just because he is the reason you exist, doesn't automatically make him a father, and by the looks of it, in this timeline you grew up with Henry Wallace as well, so…"

"I know, but still, I can't show up there out of the blue again," Lucy pointed out. "I've been over there three days in a row now. I just have no idea what my mother is going to say if I show up at house a fourth time. And what is if he wasn't the father to me that I remember? Just because I grew up with him, doesn't mean he thinks of me as his daughter."

Wyatt nodded in understanding, but then said, "You have to, Lucy, or you might regret it forever. Who knows how long Henry is going to be in town this time? For all you know, he could be on his next business trip the day after tomorrow. And don't forget that we still have no clue where Flynn is and what he is up to in this very moment. I hate to be the one pointing it out, but all of this could be gone in a second if the mothership is still out there, or if he gets his hands on yet another time-machine."

Immediately Lucy's gaze wandered down to Florence, by now fast asleep in his arms, and Wyatt could see the same pain cross her face that he was feeling if he let himself think about this scenario. "You are right," she muttered emotionally, "No more regrets."

"That's the spirit," Wyatt said proudly.

"And, um, I kind of forgot Florence's toy anyway, so…"

"You what?"

"I know," Lucy deflected any form of rebuke right away, "I'm sorry, but I simply forgot all about it as soon as my mother dropped the Noah bomb onto me."

Wyatt snorted at that, "At least you have a reason now to go back there."

"Yeah," she grimaced, "Hooray!"

"If … well … I could come along, you know, if you don't want to go alone," he offered sheepishly.

"You really would do that?" Lucy asked surprised, but hopeful, knowing that Wyatt didn't want to spend any more time with her mother than absolutely necessary.

"Of course, Lucy," he assured her immediately. "That's what friends are for, right?"

xxx

"Your friends that are helping you, Lucy and Wyatt," Jiya asked. "Are they those with the kid?"

"Yes, but the kid is new too," Rufus grinned. Now that they all have gotten used to it, it was actually quite funny how things turned out for them in this timeline.

"What?" Jiya asked bewildered.

"Well, um, they weren't even together in our original timeline, but when we came here, they suddenly are supposed to be married, and they have this really cute little girl," Rufus explained, chuckling.

"Oh my god," Jiya said horrified, clapping her hands over her mouth, "That must have been a terrible shock for them."

"It sure was. At first," Rufus admitted, somewhat sobered by Jiya's appalled reaction. "But between you and me, I think it was the best thing that could have happen to them. I was actually getting sick and tired of them dancing around each other without ever going anywhere, and now they are kind of forced to face their feelings."

"And that is working for them?" Jiya asked sceptically.

"More or less," Rufus admitted, "But I'm not entirely sure yet how it is going to turn out. Wyatt at least has finally confessed his love for Lucy. Problem is, he hasn't plucked up the courage yet to confess it to her as well, so … who knows."

Jiya giggled at that, "Poor guy, I can't even imagine. The whole situation must be awkward as hell."

"Yeah, well, I can," Rufus said nervously.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it is equally awkward when the person you like doesn't even remember you," he said, swallowing hard so that his feelings wouldn't get the better of him.

"Oh," Jiya said taken aback, "Yeah, sure, that would be awkward too."

"I'm talking about us," Rufus blurted out before he could get cold feet again. "I'm sorry, I know this is probably a shock for you, but it's only fair that you know this too. We were together in the other timeline."

Jiya watched him squirm nervously for a while, then decided it was time to end his misery, "I kind of guessed that already," she confessed, smiling, "And um, I admit it is a little unexpected and totally awkward, but I'm also not entirely averse to that idea," she admitted sheepishly.

"You … you're not?" Rufus asked surprised.

Jiya shrugged nonchalantly, "You are a great guy, Rufus, you are funny, a bit goofy, but smart and honest, and we seem to have a lot in common as well, so … yeah, I think … I think I might have a little crush on you."

xxx

"So you were right all along, there was no baby," Wyatt finished, absentmindedly running one of his hands lovingly through Florence's hair. The pigtails had already loosened hours ago, and now he gently removed the last remaining scrunchy as well. "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but with everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, it kind of slipped my mind," he added apologetically.

"It's okay, you told me, that is all that matters now," Lucy sighed relieved. "Thank god, I couldn't even look in the direction of that room without feeling nauseous."

"You and me both," Wyatt moaned exasperated, "I mean, what was that idiot thinking, uh? He could have spared us a lot of heartache if he hadn't come up with a stupid idea like that."

"I don't know, I think it was kind of sweet what he did," Lucy disagreed pensive.

Wyatt frowned at her in confusion, "Are you saying that you actually would have fallen for that?"

"No, I don't mean the actual set-up," Lucy hurried to explain, "That might have been a bit too much, I don't know, but that he did go to such lengths to convince her to have another baby," she shrugged. "I think that is quite telling, isn't it?

Wyatt gave a noncommitted jerk with his head, "Perhaps." It was strange enough already talking about their other selves as if they were completely different people, so he didn't want to get too involved with what was going on between them on top of it.

"To be honest," Lucy continued anyway, "I several times had doubts that they were working as a couple at all. Especially after what my mother has said to me. She made it sound like he cheated on her. And that more than once. So it is actually nice to hear about something else for a change that might suggest otherwise."

Wyatt was shocked to hear her say that as he had had the same thoughts on countless occasions. "Yeah I know," he eventually gave in, "I had the same impression," he admitted through gritted teeth. Why was he always feeling guilty whenever the subject of other-him cheating on Lucy came up? It wasn't him who did that, and as far as he could tell, the Wyatt of this timeline hadn't betrayed his Lucy either. So why was there still this feeling of inadequacy whenever he thought about a possible relationship with her? Like he wasn't enough, or didn't deserve her even though he had never wronged her?

"You know that I never truly believed that, don't you?" Lucy asked, scrutinizing him.

"Really?" Wyatt snorted mirthless, "Because I believed it for sure, and I despised him for it."

"Well, I guess that only confirms that I know you better than you know yourself," Lucy claimed confidently, a superior smile appearing on her lips, "All versions of you!"

xxx

"Anyway, the lifeboat has disappeared without a trace, so we have no chance to follow Flynn any longer," Rufus sighed defeated when he finally came to the end of his story.

"Not necessarily," Jiya said slowly, deep in thoughts. "You said you landed here in this timeline about a week ago, right?"

"Yes, last Friday night to be precisely."

Jiya nodded absentmindedly. "Then it actually makes sense now," she said more to herself than to him.

"What makes sense?" Rufus frowned.

"Oh uh," Jiya startled, "that explains why our prototype was in the hanger on Saturday morning and not in the storage room as it was supposed to be. I wasn't there myself, but I heard a lot of talk and speculations about it on Monday morning, and no one seemed to have had anything to do with it. Mason was so furious about the incident."

"The prototype?" Rufus swallowed hard, "You mean you guys have actually built the lifeboat already?

"Well, we don't call it the lifeboat, so it is only a guess, but with everything you have told me, it perfectly would make sense if not only your other selves were replaced when you came here, but the prototype as well," Jiya concluded her train of thoughts. "Wouldn't it?"

Rufus gaped at her for what felt like hours, totally baffled by her theory. Then he became master of his bodily functions again and jumped to his feet. "We have to go!" he decided in a haste, threw some money onto the table without even counting it, grabbed Jiya's arm and hurriedly dragged her out of the restaurant.

xxx

Ever since Lucy brought up the assumption that his counterpart had been cheating, Wyatt had somewhat withdrawn from her, which led her to the conclusion that the mere thought was bothering him more than he wanted to admit. In fact, when she paid extra attention, she could see the guilt and shame written all over his face whenever she caught him in an unregarded moment.

And suddenly it all made sense to her, his willingness to let Jessica go even though she was the love of his life. Because the only alternative would mean betraying his honor, his self-respect, and everything he believed in. It was touching, but also incredible sad, and she wondered if it was worth it to give up on his happiness in return.

"You know you are a great guy, don't you?" Lucy asked therefore, startling Wyatt out of his thoughts. Surprised, he looked up at her and grinned sheepishly, "I don't know about that," he shrugged, "Guess it depends on whom you ask."

That was an odd reply, so Lucy's next question had already passed her lips before she even consciously form it in her mind, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I already told you about Jessica's parents, right? So we can cross them off the list of people who would agree with you on that," he said, still grinning, "And uhm, then there is a whole town in West-Texas that probably doesn't think of me that highly either," he chuckled, and Lucy once again had to admire his capability to hide his real feelings behind his jokes.

"I'm sure that's not true," she retorted, shaking her head to visualize her objection. "The whole town? Really? I didn't know you were _that_ famous," she tried to match his humor.

To her relieve, Wyatt actually laughed at that. "More like infamous, actually," he countered easily, "and it is a very small town."

"Still," she insisted, letting go of the jests now. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Wyatt was quiet for a moment, contemplating her words. "But it was, Lucy," he finally said, dead serious this time. "Trust me, if you always get told that you are worthless, and that you are going to end up as a slouch just like your father, you start to believe that yourself one day."

"Who told you that?" Lucy asked scandalized, a spark of anger flaring up in her eyes.

"Oh let's see!" He made dramatic pause as if he had a hard time thinking about this question, "First of all, there was this really charming fellow, a drinking buddy of my dad, who also happened to be the town's sheriff. God, I hated that guy," he calmly recited the people that had prejudged him in his youth. "And then there were all the storekeepers of course, who always kept an eye on every one of my moves, convinced that I would steal everything that wasn't nailed down in an inattentive moment."

It almost sounded funny, but Lucy could see right through his act and feel his pain. "Probably all of my teachers," Wyatt merciless kept going as if all of this had nothing to do with him. "I swear they already knew that I would fail their class even before it started. Distant relatives who actually never talked to me in person, but nonetheless seemed to know every bad thing about me, then …"

"Stop!" Lucy begged faintly when she couldn't take it any longer, "Please stop."

"I'm sorry," Wyatt apologised coolly, "But you asked."

"Yes, I know," Lucy whispered, still shaken by his mistreatment. "Guess I learned my lesson, huh?"

They fell silent for a moment. But while Wyatt dropped his gaze, Lucy continued to watch him closely. He still seemed to be little churned up, but all in all surprisingly okay with his past. He was lost in thoughts again, that much was obvious, but he gave no further indication if he was still dwelling on his unpleasant childhood, or if he already had moved on. Maybe a bit of both, Lucy assumed when she noticed him taking one of Florence's hands in his own and started to stroke it absentmindedly.

"Well, it could have been much worse," she boldly announced after a while, and felt very pleased with herself when she saw the grin creep up on his face again.

"Care to elaborate?"

"They could have been right!" she said matter-of-factly, now openly smiling at him.

"Who says they weren't?" Wyatt challenged, amused.

"I do!"

"Oh really, on what basis? Your plentiful experience with the rabble?"

Lucy only continued to smile at him mysteriously, letting his snide remark pass without reply. "Have I ever told you about my senior prom?" she asked instead, deciding that it was time for her now to show some vulnerability. Confused, Wyatt shook his head no, plainly wondering what her prom had to do with any of this.

"It was supposed to be the highlight of the year, maybe even my whole life up till then," Lucy started to relate. "My mother had everything planned out for months. What I should wear, my hairstyle, the make-up, you name it."

"Of course she had," Wyatt huffed. "What about you though, did you have a say in this as well?"

Lucy ignored the question, he knew the answer anyway. "And then the real miracle happened," she continued, trying to sound just as detached as he had, "Michael Garrison, probably the most popular boy in the entire school asked me to be his date. I was ecstatic, and hardly could believe my luck."

"Michael Garrison, huh?" Wyatt growled unimpressed, "Sounds like a real idiot to me."

Lucy narrowed her eyes at him. It was strange, for a moment she actually had the impression that he was jealous. Which was ridiculous of course as Michael Garrison was, not that he ever truly had been in, long out of the picture. So why would he be jealous of a long gone could-have-been-boyfriend, but not jealous of Noah, who actually was going to spend the day with her soon? It didn't make sense, so Lucy quickly put that notion aside as wishful thinking.

"Anyway, it all turned out to be one big joke," she revealed then. "Although it wasn't very funny, at least not for me. He never truly thought about going to the prom with me. He only asked me because his parents made him do it. And I bet you everything that my mother had her hands in this as well."

Now she suddenly had Wyatt's undivided attention. He gaped at her unblinkingly and the disgust he felt was all too visible on his face. It felt surprisingly good to see that he so openly disapproved of such an awful kind of manipulation. His silent support gave her a boost of confidence and reassurance that she had sorely missed back when it actually happened to her.

"I'm sure in my mother's eyes, Michael," she grimaced at his name, "was the perfect match for me. Smart, rich, cultivated, good-looking, born into the right society, with great marks and an excellent future ahead of him."

Wyatt nodded stiffly, knowing that this wasn't the end of the story yet, "What happened then?"

"That spineless jerk waited for the very last moment to cancel on me," she continued toneless. "Although, that's not entirely true, he just didn't show up, that coward. I waited for hours, all dressed up and nervous as hell, but he simply went to the prom with someone else. No call, no warning, nothing. It was only when a friend called me, asking where I was, that I found out the truth."

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, Lucy," Wyatt whispered gutted, and Lucy hastily turned away from him. She didn't want to see his pity.

"Thing is, I couldn't stay at home either." Lucy gave a short, humorless laugh, then continued with some difficulty, "If my mother would have found out, that would have been even worse and probably much more embarrassing. I'm fairly certain that she would have called his mother and together they would have dragged me to the prom to confront him right then and there, so I didn't tell her right away, and went to a speech and debate tournament instead."

"You didn't!" Wyatt snorted impressed.

"I sure did!" Lucy said proudly. "To be honest with you, I never wanted to go to that stupid prom in the first place and was actually already signed in for the tournament, but then decided to skip it because the great Michael Garrison had asked me to be his date. Silly of me, wasn't it?"

"No!" Wyatt disagreed. "It was not silly, Lucy, just…" he trailed off, looking into space to find the right words. "He wasn't worth it," he finally continued, turning his gaze back at her. "Obviously that idiot was too stupid to recognize a good thing when it was handed to him on a silver platter. They used you, Lucy, all of them, but that doesn't make it your fault."

Lucy nodded in acknowledgement, averting her eyes. It had hurt when she was so cruelly stood up, but in the end, she had had the chance to do what she had wanted to do that night all along, and she had no regrets on this part, but it was clear that Wyatt didn't see it this way, and that made her highly uncomfortable at the moment.

"I would have taken you to the prom," Wyatt mumbled then, sounding shockingly serious when he said that.

Lucy starred at him, her mouth hanging open in astonishment. Did he really just say what she thinks he said?

"No you wouldn't have," she replied then with firm conviction. Just the thought of it was ridiculous. She was sure that she and Wyatt couldn't have been more different in high school even if they had tried to. She had been a shy, studious nerd, and he seemed to have been some kind of reckless rebel.

"Sure I would have," Wyatt countered at once with a certainty that blew her away. "But I was barred from the prom, because I was caught drinking on campus, so ...," he shrugged apologetically. But the grin that appeared on his lips afterwards, indicated that he too didn't truly believe that he would have done it.

Lucy scrutinized him for a moment, "So you actually were a bad boy then," she determined, grinning.

Wyatt laughed at that, "Well, if you think that drinking on campus, stealing my dad's car to drive it into a lake, and becoming a bootlegger for a while makes me a bad boy then yes, I think truly was."

"You are joking right?" Lucy laughed hesitantly.

"Nope!"

"You actually serious?" Startled, Lucy sat up straight on her chair. "How come?"

"Nah," Wyatt said, "That is all I'm going to tell you for today. The why is a different kind of story, and I don't want to ruin the mood completely."

Lucy snorted at that, "Because we are having such a great time at the moment?" she asked sarcastically.

"No seriously, Lucy," Wyatt denied determined. "One day I'm going to tell you, but I think we are done swapping traumatic childhood experiences for today."

"Surely it can't be that bad," Lucy said uncertain, hoping that he was at least joking this time.

"You have no idea..." Wyatt said under his breath so that Lucy almost couldn't hear him.

They were quiet for a while, Wyatt because he went down memory lane even though he didn't intend to, and Lucy because she couldn't believe that Wyatt had to suffer through an even more horrible youth than he already had shared with her. It was unbearable for her to even think of this.

"Sorry," Wyatt grinned sheepishly after a while, "Now I've completely ruined it after all."

"No, you didn't!" Lucy assured him, grabbing his hand to emphasize her statement. "I was just thinking how strange everything is. The high school Golden Boy turns out to be a complete jerk, and the so called bad boy actually is the kindest man with the biggest heart I've ever met."


	16. Opposites attract, don't they?

**_So this is officially the longest chapter I've ever written, and I contemplated more than once to split it up to post at least half of it a bit sooner. But then I thought you might actually prefer it if I power through and get the whole thing out at once, simply because I know that it would have taken me even longer to finish two chapters rather than one big chapter…_**

 ** _Let me know if you agree with me on not postponing the second part ;)_**

* * *

 **16\. Opposites attract, don't they?**

The evening hadn't turned out as Wyatt had hoped it would. In a way, it even had been better. They had talked, really talked about a lot of things, and shared some secrets, anxieties and desires. Not yet the secrets and desires, Wyatt longed to share, but it definitely was a start.

Lucy had once accused him that he never talked, and she had been right about that, but not because he didn't _want_ to, but rather because he never had anyone he actually _could_ speak so openly to. Not even Jessica, he realised with a hint of guilt. At least not the way he should have been able to confide in her.

There were some things, usually regarding his missions, that he simply wasn't allowed to talk about, or that he thought would horrify her, so he kept them secret to spare her.

It was different with Lucy though. At first he more or less was obligated to inform her of the terrible things that could happen on such missions to help her get through them, and later on, he wanted to share them willingly, because he knew that she would understand it, and wouldn't judge him as other people might have done.

He also never disclosed every detail about his upbringing to Jessica. He told her enough that she knew about his shitty childhood thanks to his so called father, but he never mentioned any specifics, out of fear that she might think he could turn out to be just like him. But for some reason he didn't have the same fears when it came to Lucy. He suspected that it was because in the very beginning, he simply didn't bother what she might think about him, and later on, she already knew too much to start caring then. Granted, she too hadn't heard the gruesome details yet, but that was only a matter of time, because he wanted her to know them. Even though he feared seeing the pity in her eyes when he was finally ready to tell her.

What still bothered him a little though was the fact that Lucy wasn't aware how special these talks between them were. He knew she cherished them just as much as he did, but she didn't realise yet that she was the only person in the whole world that he did that with and who knew this much about him. One of these days he would rectify this and make her see what a huge part she was playing in his life already, but not yet. For now he was only happy that they could easily chat about these things again, and after all the ups and downs of the past days, it had been really nice to just spend some quality time with her.

Now lying here in the comfortably darkness of their home, he went through the evening again in his mind.

It had been her dream job, she had said. That's what her other version had done, following her dream when she accepted the position at the small college in Ohio. And then she gave it all up for him. Well, other-him to be exact, but still! The thought alone that any version of Lucy would do this for some version of him was overwhelming.

And then other-him had returned the favor a few years later by giving up his job to raise their daughter. Most likely at the height of his career as well. They really must have been in love back then, Wyatt realised with a start. It almost sounded too good to be true, like some kitschy romance novel. Well, at least he hadn't acted purely out of responsibility when he married her, but he because he loved her!

And so, for the very first time, Wyatt actually felt proud of his other-self. As far as he could tell, he seemed to have made the right decisions at that time. And not only that, he also knowingly, or unknowingly, dragged Lucy even further away from her mother's influence and made sure that she was happy. Or so he liked to believe.

The Lucy of his timeline had the chance to break free when her mother got ill, which he perversely was grateful for. But he also had gotten a glimpse of what her life had been like in yet another timeline, in which she ended up at the exact path her mother had planned out for her, and probably never had the liberty to make her own decisions. She also had had no Amy who could intervene, and so she went through with marrying Noah on top of everything else, who, by the looks of it, had been hand-picked by her mother as well.

And if his Lucy was any indication of how the other version of her had truly felt about him, then she might not have been very happy with this development.

With a smile on his lips that his Lucy didn't have to submit to her mother's meddling any longer, maybe even thanks to his mere presence, Wyatt eventually fell asleep.

xxx

Ever since the first rays of sunshine had sneaked into her bedroom and then unrelentingly penetrated her eyelids until they forcefully managed to disturb her slumber, Lucy had been lying awake with too much time to think about the previous evening.

And by now she was highly confused.

She had never been in a long-term relationship before, but the evening with Wyatt had turned out to be exactly like she always had imagined it would be like. Initially, it had been a first date like atmosphere, but there hadn't been any awkwardness between them, like Lucy usually experienced during those. And having suffered through enough of them during the past few years, most often set up by Amy, she would almost call herself an expert on this matter.

No, the evening with Wyatt had been different, but she couldn't put her finger on what exactly it was that had made it so different. Perhaps the camaraderie that already existed between them, or the fact that they hadn't been alone, but that their daughter had been present the whole time as well. Whatever the reason was, Lucy hadn't been so happy and relaxed in a very long time.

The biggest shock for her had probably been his revelation that he didn't want Jessica back, and actually suggested to set her up with Noah instead. If that was indeed true, then what did that mean for them? If it meant anything at all.

Just because he didn't want to have _this_ Jessica, didn't automatically imply that he also didn't want _his_ Jessica back. After all, he said that she was different, which therefore made this Jessica a mere copy of the one he once fell so deeply in love with.

Having currently to deal with a sobering copy of her mother, Lucy could fully understand this, and though she was happy to have this new Amy in her life now, she also wasn't the sister she had lost, but nonetheless a welcome substitute.

It was the same with Rufus, she realised, he too rather chose another version of Jiya than none at all. So why was Wyatt okay with letting Jessica go completely? She seemed to be a sweet and lovable person to Lucy, just as she always had imagined during the rare occasions when Wyatt opened up and talked about her. So how different could she be that Wyatt didn't want her any longer?

But did it really matter in the end if Jessica was apparently out of the picture now? Just because she was gone, didn't mean she, Lucy, could simply take her place. If even the copy of Jessica wasn't good enough for him, then how was she supposed to compete?

At the very least, she wasn't going to lose him anytime soon. For the time being, he wasn't going anywhere, and that was such a soothing turn of events, that Lucy didn't give a damn about anything else at the moment. She was simply going back to enjoy having him by her side again, and that had to be enough until…

"Lucy?" Wyatt interrupted her train of thoughts with a knock on her door, "Are you awake yet? Rufus is here, and he has something to tell us."

Startled, Lucy felt the heat rush to her cheeks, highly embarrassed that he more or less had caught her daydreaming about him and a possible them.

"And uhm, he brought Jiya along too," Wyatt revealed grinning when she opened the door.

"Jiya?" Lucy exclaimed excited, "She is here? For real?"

"Yep, downstairs, admiring our cute daughter."

"Oh my god," Lucy squealed, pushing him aside to make room for her to squeeze past him.

"Lucy wait, maybe you should …," Wyatt called out, trying to grab her arm to hold her back, but she was too quick, "… get properly dressed first," he added with a snigger after she was already out of earshot.

Theoretically she knew that she and Jiya had never met in this timeline, and that the other woman had no clue how close they really were, but at the moment Lucy didn't care, she hastened down the stairs as fast as possible, stormed into the kitchen and engulfed her friend in a tight embrace without further ado.

"And that is Lucy," Rufus introduced her to a suffocating Jiya, "Told you she missed you. And I swear, usually she isn't that scantily clad either."

Lucy blushed deeply when she heard him say that. "Sorry," she mumbled embarrassed when she looked down on herself. She was only wearing a button-down shirt that, obvious for everyone in the room, belonged to Wyatt, and panties that were thankfully hidden beneath the rather long shirt. "I was just … I better get dressed now," she said, and unfortunately had to squeeze past Wyatt once again, who had followed her down and was now standing right behind her, a smug smirk on his face.

If possible, Lucy blushed even deeper when she hurried to flee the scene, but then came to a sudden stop in the doorway and turned around again, "It's so great to see you again Jiya!" she beamed before she left for good.

Wyatt shamelessly watched her leave, thoroughly enjoying the sight of her in his shirt with so much of her legs visible and a lot of room for his imagination to linger on the still hidden parts.

When she was gone, he turned around again and immediately came face to face with a broadly grinning Rufus. "So is it happening then?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Feigning innocence, Wyatt frowned at him as if he had no clue what he was referring to. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You and Lucy?" Rufus suggested sarcastically, exasperated by so much ignorance. "You are not expecting me to believe that she ended up wearing your shirt coincidently, do you?"

Wyatt gave a non-committed shrug, "You have the liberty to believe whatever you want, but _I_ had nothing to do with this."

"Yeah right."

"No seriously," Wyatt sighed then, "I admit that we had a great evening yesterday, we talked a lot and I think we came to a new level of understanding, but that's it. Unfortunately!" he couldn't help adding.

"You talked?" Rufus repeated deflated. "Seriously? You guys have done nothing but talk since you met. And don't even pretend that I couldn't possibly know that. I was always there, remember? You were quiet, I give you that, but I could hear the whispered conversations you two shared with each other whenever you thought I was out of earshot, or already asleep. And even though my back was turned, I could see, or more likely sense, the meaningful looks you were exchanging in the lifeboat, right before and after our missions."

"So? That's no crime, is it?" Wyatt defended himself, uncomfortable with the accuracy Rufus was describing their behaviour, thinking that they had been more discreet than that, so that he wouldn't feel left out.

"No, it's a shame," Rufus said. "You are in love with her for who knows how long, but you still haven't done anything about that yet."

"Oh you are one to talk," Wyatt flared up, suddenly fed up with Rufus' annoying good-advices and accusations. Then he countered with a short side-glance at Jiya, "If I remember correctly, you are not exactly a leading example when it comes to expressing your feelings."

"Hey! Guys, guys," Jiya interjected, pushing Rufus gently away from Wyatt, before she turned around to face him herself, "I know it's not exactly my business, but I think what Rufus is not so subtle trying to say is that maybe you should do more than talking?" she suggested tentatively, contorting her face in a way that showed how unpleasant that encounter was for her, and how helpless and unsure she felt to be suddenly drawn right in the middle of it."

"I'm trying, okay?" Wyatt groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration. "It's just not that easy, and Rufus here," he pointed an accusing finger at the latter, "has absolutely no right to criticize me. After all, he might be even worse when it comes to women. Last time it took a live and death situation and the capture by Indians to set him into motion."

"Yeah well," Rufus said, grinning, "That was the old me."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Wyatt asked in puzzled annoyance.

"It means, that the new me summoned every bit of courage yesterday and told Jiya about us,"

Rufus grinned proudly.

"Shut the hell up!" Wyatt beamed surprised, his anger completely forgotten. Then, boxing Rufus lightly against his upper arm in appreciation, he added, "You did, didn't you?"

"Yep!"

"So what does that mean exactly? You two are together again, or what?" Wyatt asked excited, looking expectantly from one to the other.

"Well, we…"

"Whoa, hold on for a minute there," Jiya interrupted them again. "I told you that I like you too, but that doesn't automatically mean that we are together," she set Rufus straight. "I've just met you, for heaven's sake, and it is still more than a little awkward that you know so much about me already while I hardly know anything at all."

"Yeah, but you also said that you have a crush on me," Rufus waved her objections off, "That is all that matters for now. The rest can wait until you DO know me again."

xxx

"So you are saying the lifeboat is still there?" Wyatt asked stunned. "And also still functional?"

"It sure is, just as ugly as always, but fully operative," Rufus confirmed, "The battery is dead though, but other than that it should work smoothly."

"What …" Lucy swallowed hard, not sure if she should be happy about this discovery or anxious. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means that we finally have a chance to find out again what Flynn is up to, but we also have to make sure that he doesn't get his hands on it," Wyatt replied at once. "Rufus, can you disable it so that only we can use it in case that Flynn jumps with the mothership?"

"Already did," Rufus said proudly, withdrawing a tiny circuit board from his pocket, "I know it doesn't look like much, but this baby here makes all the difference, without it time-travel is not possible, and there is no way he could replace it either, because Mason hasn't invented it yet, and the equivalent of the mothership doesn't fit into the lifeboat, so, here you go," he handed the board over to Wyatt, "We are in complete charge of it again."

Wyatt beamed at him in awe, "Rufus, you are the best."

"Did you have a chance to see if Flynn has jumped in the meantime?" Lucy asked nervously, afraid that their worst fear could become reality.

"Sorry, no, like I said, the battery is dead so I couldn't actually start it. But Jiya and I are planning to find out tonight. We already informed Mason that we have a new idea that we want to work on, so no one is going to be suspicious when we turn up there on a Sunday evening."

"Good thinking," Wyatt said impressed, clapping Rufus on the shoulder.

xxx

"Are you going to ring the bell shortly, or do you plan on staying here for the rest of the day?" Wyatt asked amused, watching how Lucy's finger hover undecided above the button.

"I'm not sure yet," Lucy said apprehensively, then she let her hand sink down and turned around to him. "Do you think it is horrible of me that in regards of my mother, I might actually prefer a timeline in which she was sick?" she unexpectedly asked in a low voice.

"Don't ask me," Wyatt whispered back. "I'm prejudiced. I already met her."

"That's true, and I can't help wondering why you still did it," Lucy mumbled, though Wyatt had the impression that she wasn't entirely aware that he still could hear her.

"Did what?" he asked anyway, too curious to let it go.

Startled, Lucy's eyes focused on him again and blushed slightly when she shared her thoughts with him, "Oh, um, marrying me, of course."

Taken aback, Wyatt stared at her.

"I mean, I'm sure you had plenty of opportunities to walk away, but instead you chose to marry me for some reason, which also meant that you agreed to put up with my mother, so …," she shrugged helpless, leaving the last part open for his own interpretation.

Wyatt could see the self-doubt written all over Lucy's face and it nearly broke his heart. He had always wondered were her insecurities regarding her personal life came from, especially since she was the total opposite when it came to her professional life. But since yesterday, he had a pretty good idea why.

"Well," he grinned and couldn't resist touching her, even if only by taking one of her hands in his, "maybe you were smart enough to wait until we were married before you introduced me to her."

"That surely would explain it," Lucy smiled bashful and squeezed his hand lovingly before she let go again. Then she sighed deeply, squared her shoulders and resolutely pushed the bell button, "Alright," she said, "Here goes nothing."

x

Before Lucy even had the time to react, she was already engulfed into a tight embrace. "Lucy, how nice of you to come over for a visit," Henry Wallace said happily when he released her again. Then he extracted his hand, "Wyatt," he greeted, firmly but welcoming shaking his hand. "And you also brought my most favorite little girl along," he announced delighted, reaching out for Florence. "Hey Flo, can you say grandpa yet?"

"No," Florence replied curtly, but accepted being lifted out of Wyatt's arms.

"Don't worry, Sweety, you'll get the hang of it sooner or later," Henry said, planting a huge kiss on her cheek before leading the way further into the house.

"That's your dad?" Wyatt asked astounded, when they slowly followed him. "How on earth did he end up with your mom?"

"Guess she must have bewitched him or something," Lucy replied dryly.

"Yeah," Wyatt snorted, "that's what I thought."

"Seriously though," Lucy said, stopping abruptly to face him. "She is different with him and Amy. Less demanding and more compliant."

"How come?" Wyatt frowned, not liking this new revelation at all.

"I don't know, "Lucy admitted sadly, "I always thought it was because she saw more potential in me than in Amy. You have to know that Amy has always been more easy-going, and I guess more fun to be around, whereas I have always been more serious and focused. In other words more receptive to her influence, and therefore probably more suited to follow into her footsteps."

Wyatt nodded in agreement. "And now?" he asked.

"Now?" Lucy asked confused.

"You said you always thought that was the reason. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sounded like you have a different idea now why she treats you differently."

"I…" Lucy swallowed hard, "I think, maybe she is punishing me for being another man's daughter?" she admitted hesitantly.

"I seriously doubt that is the case, Lucy," Wyatt said softly, drawing her into a hug. "I mean, I'm sure in her own very twisted way she loves you and wants the best for you, even though she doesn't seem to care if her notion of it is what you think is best for you either," he mumbled against her hair. "But, if you are truly right," Wyatt added through gritted teeth, "Than she is even more pathetic than I thought she is."

"You must think that I'm truly akratic," Lucy presumed, dropping her gaze bashfully while backing a little away from his embrace. "Because I constantly let her manipulate me like that."

"NO!" Wyatt denied vehemently, shaking his head. Then he gently cupped her chin between his thumb and forefinger to lift her face up so that she would look at him. "I now think that there are way more forms of child abuse than I initially thought there were. Turns out that you don't need to hit your children to make them feel worthless. Actually makes me appreciate my father all of a sudden. At least with him I always knew he was a son of a bitch."

"What are you talking about," Lucy started to protest, "my mother never abused me."

Wyatt raised his eyebrows at her and she fell into a reflective silence.

xxx

"So Wyatt, we missed you at the game yesterday," Henry remarked when they finally joined him and Amy in the sitting room.

"The game?" Wyatt frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, the San Francisco Giants were playing the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday, remember? I can't believe you willingly missed it after you hardly talked about anything else for weeks."

"I … um …," Wyatt stared at him dumbfounded. "Well, I guess I rather spent the day with my girls," he said, sounding slightly put out so that Lucy wondered if he was regretting their evening together now. Maybe he actually would have preferred to go to the game instead.

"Thank goodness," Henry said relieved, "When Ben said that you probably wouldn't show up, I thought you might be on the verge of disappearing again for a while."

"Ben?" Lucy asked alarmed, totally ignoring the distressed frown on Wyatt's forehead, or the fact that it wasn't the first time that she had heard about these disappearances.

"Well yes, Ben, your father?" Henry chuckled uncertain, "You do remember him, don't you?"

Ignoring this jibe as well, she rather focused on the more demanding subject, "You went to a game with my … with Benjamin Cahill?" Lucy asked again for confirmation.

"I know … I know," Henry laughed, "Sometimes I still can't believe it either, but ever since the two of us formed an alliance to convince you to follow your dream and take the job in Ohio, we almost became something like friends," he shrugged. "I guess scheming against your mother's wishes has the magical power of binding people together," he added with a conspiratorial wink.

"Speaking of mom," Lucy said a little nervous, looking around. "Where is she anyway?"

"Oh, she has a very important staff meeting with the department today," Henry revealed.

"A staff meeting, on a Sunday?" Lucy asked baffled.

"Yeah I know, crazy right?" he said, rolling his eyes. "But apparently that had been the only time that was suitable for most of them."

As she thought that she was an important member of the department as well, Lucy couldn't help but feel left out when she heard this. She took a shaking breath to ask Henry more about this meeting when Wyatt leaned closer and whispered into her ear, "If you ever even think about attending such a meeting on a weekend, just because your mother thinks it can't be done at any other time, I'm going to stop you!"

Surprised, Lucy turned around to fully face him, finding him calmly but determinedly staring back at her.

She should be scandalized, shouldn't she? That he would presume to decide this without asking her first. But to her own astonishment, she felt grateful and protected instead, thanks to this one simply statement. He was looking out for her and apparently knew instinctively that she needed this kind of backup when it came to her mother and her demanding nature.

"Actually, I'm surprised that you aren't there as well," Henry continued then, rubbing his chin contemplatively. "The way Carol talked about it, it sounded very important, almost as if it was essential for the survival of the department."

"I'm sure it did," Wyatt mumbled sarcastically, totally unconvinced of the acuteness, causing Lucy to lightly hit him against his stomach in order to make him behave, but the hardly contained grin on her face told him otherwise.

"Oh but she would have been there," Amy chimed in, laughing, "That is if Wyatt hadn't threatened to divorce her if she ever again wasted a weekend on one of mom's "important" meetings," she snorted unladylike, emphasizing the word important with air quotes.

xxx

"Poor Wyatt, I think dad is going to brag about his new lawn mower again," Amy said pitiful, looking up from the from the floor where she was playing with Florence.

"Lawn mowers, huh," Lucy grinned, watching them fondly from her seat on the couch. "Are those his recent passion?" It was strange that she had completely forgotten about this. But now she suddenly remembered how Henry ever so often came home with a new gadget and then would spend weeks gloating about it, pointing out the varies pros and contras constantly. It used to drive her mother nuts, but Lucy couldn't help feeling thankful that he was sharing this with Wyatt now, no matter how boring it might be for the latter.

"What do you think?" Amy asked pensive, joining Lucy on the couch. "Do I need to be jealous, or something?"

"Of Wyatt?" Lucy asked alarmed.

"No, not Wyatt, silly, the lawn mower of course," Amy laughed, "I've already accepted a long time ago that Wyatt is like a son to dad, so no need to start putting up a fuss about it now."

"I don't know," Lucy said relieved, and immensely proud and happy that it wasn't just her imagination that Henry was fond of Wyatt. "I guess that depends on how much time those two are spending together."

"Great, so I DO need to be jealous," Amy scowled, crossing her arms in front of her chest and let herself sink against the back rest, resigned. "How am I supposed to compete with the newest state-of-the-art grass cutting machine with adjustable seat, ergonomic steering wheel and mulching capability?"

"I guess you can't," Lucy laughed happily, drawing Amy in for a hug. God how she had missed her sister.

xxx

"So Lucy, your mother told me she persuaded you into showing Noah Rush around Stanford tomorrow?" Henry remarked some time later when he and Wyatt had finally re-emerged, both in rather high spirits as if they just had the time of their life together.

"Who? Oh, uhm, Noah? Yes, she did," Lucy confirmed hesitantly.

"Well, I don't know this Noah fellow, but I'm telling you, his parents are a piece of work," he warned, sighing deeply.

"Are they now?" Wyatt piped up interested.

"You have no idea, son, and luckily so," Henry grimaced with a shudder. "I always thought of myself as a sophisticated man, with a healthy amount of ambition and my fair share of success, but next to them I felt like a nobody, hardly worth noticing."

"That bad, uh?" Wyatt gulped, knowing this feeling all too well.

"Worse, actually," Henry laughed, "They are all doctors, can you imagine? _All of them_ , for generations! And they behave like they own the world, just because they have famous ancestors or something like that. I don't know, I more or less zoned out of the conversation at that point."

Wyatt and Lucy exchanged alarming looks. This family sounded like prime candidates for Rittenhouse. What had they gotten themselves into this time?

"No idea what your mother sees in this lot," Henry continued unperturbed. "Anyway, I wish you luck tomorrow, because if he is anything like them, then you are in need of a very convincing _pep talk_ afterwards, if you know what I mean," he winked, clapping Wyatt so hard on the shoulder that he almost lost his balance and fell over.

"Uh eh," Lucy splattered, taken aback, while Amy next to her snorted with laughter. "Dad!" she cried out scandalized, as soon as she could breeze again.

"What?" he asked innocently, "I just want my Lucy to be _happy_. And I know I can count on Wyatt here to accomplish just that."

"Yes sir," Wyatt replied obediently, grinning shameless at Lucy while he said that, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "I'll do whatever I can."

xxx

"Henry Wallace, uh?" Wyatt started when they were back in the car, "He is something."

"Believe me," Lucy laughed, "I had no idea!"

"Well, at least someone in the family cares more about your _happiness_ , than anything else," Wyatt said, sounding more serious, but the way he had intoned the word happiness gave him away.

"I can't believe he said that," Lucy groaned, burying her face in his hands.

"I thought it was funny," Wyatt snorted, "Embarrassing, yes, but hilarious. Especially the shocked look on your face."

"You are one to talk," Lucy countered at once, "I didn't know you could blush like that."

"Only because I was caught off guard," Wyatt protested.

"Whatever you say," Lucy grinned, not convinced at all by that.

They fell in comfortable silence after that, both preoccupied with their own thoughts.

"God, I'm so sick and tired of getting thrown bits and pieces about my live at me," Wyatt suddenly shared his thoughts. "And constantly being put on the spot to make up excuses for things I haven't even done, or had no clue about. I mean, baseball? Seriously?"

"Not a baseball fan?" Lucy sniggered amused.

"Well, it's okay I guess," Wyatt back-paddled a little, "I've seen a game or two, but talking about it for weeks? Come on?"

"And what's up with this constant accusation that I could disappear again at any moment?" he flared up again in frustration.

"Maybe that has to do with your new job," Lucy speculated calmly, shrugging her shoulders.

"What? Am I supposed to be a magician now?" Wyatt scoffed, "Specialized in disappearing acts?"

"Why not?" Lucy grinned at him, "After all, you met the great Houdini, so perhaps you got inspired by that."

"Very funny, but your little theory has a crucial flaw, it was _me_ who met Houdini, and not the Wyatt that previously dwelled in this timeline," he pointed out.

"True," Lucy relented, "But seriously, Wyatt, I do think that your disappearances must have a valid reason. And since I don't believe any longer that they have anything to do with relationship problems, they have to be work related, don't they?"

"Yeah well, if you put it like that, I think you are right. But what is it then that I'm doing?"

"Search me," Lucy sighed, "But regarding your very impressive service record, I wouldn't be surprised if your job has anything to do with the government, perhaps some kind of secret service?"

"I doubt that," Wyatt shook his head no, "By the looks of it, I'm only able to work part-time, considering that my main job is taking care of the little one over there," he said, pointing over his shoulder to the backseat of the car.

x

"So you think Noah's family is Rittenhouse too?" Wyatt finally asked the question they had been avoiding ever since Henry had brought it up.

"I don't know, but it could be possible, couldn't it?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Wyatt agreed, contorting his face in disdain.

"Noah Rush," Lucy said absentmindedly, "Could it actually be?"

"Could it be what?" Wyatt asked, startling Lucy out of her thoughts.

"Uhm, my father said that he comes from a family of physicians, reaching back generations, right?" Lucy summarized quickly.

"Yes, so?"

"I was just wondering if he could be related to Benjamin Rush, that's all."

"Who the hell is Benjamin Rush?"

Lucy gaped at him scandalized, "Are you serious now? He was one of our founding fathers," she lectured him, heatedly. "He signed the Declaration of Independence for Pennsylvania."

"Whoa, I'm sorry okay? But you really can't expect of me to know all of them," Wyatt defended himself. "There were quite a few if I recall correctly, and I'm not the historian here, remember?"

"Besides being a politician, social reformer, educator and humanitarian, Benjamin Rush was first and foremost a physician," she continued ignoring his interjection, hardly taking a breath between words. "During the war he served as a surgeon general of the Middle Department of the Continental Army," she added with a side-glance at him, hoping to spike his interest with that. "He also…"

"I get it, Lucy," Wyatt interrupted her, amused. "He was a big shot, and now his family thinks they are entitled to special treatment because of _his_ achievements."

"Yes, something like that," Lucy agreed, slightly put out that he so unceremoniously cut her speech off, but no longer in the mood to continue it.

Wyatt gnawed on his lower lip, pondering over this new development, all of a sudden worried about his plan to set Jessica up with a member of such a family. "God damn it," he cursed under his breath, hitting the steering wheel, "Let's hope that this Noah fellow doesn't turn out to be a pompous ass like the rest of them."

xxx

"What else do we need?" Lucy asked when she returned with the pasta and a brightly colored box of chocolates that certainly hadn't been on their shopping list and which Florence regarded intently. Wyatt grinned at the sight. So it wasn't just him who was tightly wrapped about the tiny fingers of their daughter, but her as well. They were so doomed.

"I think that is all," he announced, checking the list again to make sure. Despite the alarming news about Noah's family, they silently had decided to go through with the planned dinner tomorrow evening, and so they had stopped at the supermarket on their way home to buy the missing ingredients.

It was probably too late to cancel anyway. After his lapse with Jessica, it had taken him a lot of pleading to make her accept this form of apology from him, and calling it off now seemed crueller than actually going through with it, even if it didn't turn out to be a full success.

This assessment didn't help at all though that Wyatt felt guiltier and more and more calculating by the minute, knowing that the apology was in fact just a cover for his real agenda, and he hoped against hope that it didn't end in a catastrophe.

"I think now that we know about his possible connection to Rittenhouse, I want to meet Noah even less," Lucy admitted reluctantly when they left the grocery store.

Wyatt nodded thoughtfully with a heavy heart, he too wasn't thrilled about her meeting him. At least not alone, but maybe…

"So how about I come along too?" he asked in the spur of the moment, when they were putting their shopping into the trunk of the car.

"Really?" Lucy asked astounded and possibly relieved as well, "You know that I just agreed on showing him around the campus, don't you?"

"Yeah, and you better don't do anything else, missy!" Wyatt warned her playful. "But seriously, I actually would love to come," he admitted. "I mean I've probably gotten hundredth of lectures from you, but to be honest, I still have a hard time picturing you as a history professor, especially at such a prestigious college like Stanford."

"Well, um, if … if you want to, you could also come to one of my lessons some time," Lucy offered shyly, probably wondering if he truly meant it.

"Sure, if that is alright," Wyatt agreed quickly before she could take the offer back.

"It is, but don't you dare complaining afterwards if you get bored out of your mind," she threatened, stabbing his chest provocatively with her finger. "Because I'm not changing my schedule just to indulge you."

Wyatt raised his hands in surrender, "I won't complain, I promise."

"I'll take your word for it!" she warned him.

"Great, so how about tomorrow then?" he asked promptly, "I could come to your lesson and afterwards we can meet up with this Noah guy and you show us around the campus together? How does that sound?"

"Deal," Lucy beamed at him, reaching for his hand to officiate their agreement with a firm handshake.

xxx

And so Wyatt found himself sneaking into a fully occupied lecture room the very next day, with a cranky toddler by his side. He was late because Florence had been unusually tired that morning and slept much longer than he had anticipated. In the end he even had to wake her up, and as a result, she was not in the best mood now.

But to his surprise, she was so well behaved that Wyatt wondered several times if he accidentally had brought the wrong child along. She spent the entire lesson silently drawing her pictures, and only occasionally called for his attention to show him one of her creations, and so he had plenty of time to get to know this new side of Lucy.

And he was not disappointed. On the contrary, she was just as amazing as he had thought she would be. She was witty, funny, and led through her lecture in a refreshing and interesting way, adding as many anecdotes as possible and even once or twice made her students ooh and aah in astonishment. Wyatt couldn't have been prouder of her if he tried to be, and he felt very privileged that he was allowed to be part of this.

"Well, aren't you quite the attraction here," a voice said behind them when the lesson was over, and Wyatt sheepishly turned around to grin at Lucy.

"You think so?"

"Not me, but your audience." She glanced over to a group of giggling girls that, now that he looked over to them, shrieked at being caught, stuck their heads more closely together and started to whisper animatedly between fits of laughter, trying very hard to appear uninterested and failing miserably at it.

"Oh believe me, that has nothing to do with me, it is all her," Wyatt accused, pointing at Florence.

Lucy snorted at that, "Yeah right, if anything it is the combination of the both of you that attracts women like honey the bees. Don't think I didn't notice you two looking all cute together, stealing away my female students' attention."

"We did no such thing," Wyatt protested, looking as innocent as possible. "We were just quietly minding our own business over here, trying to follow the rather interesting lesson."

"Oh really?" Lucy raised a sceptical eyebrow. "What did I say?"

"No clue," Wyatt admitted at once. "I was too distracted by the teacher. She kept throwing sultry glances in my direction."

Lucy gasped for air at that accusation while the blood instantly rushed into her cheeks. There was no way he could have noticed that from up here, especially since she had tried her hardest to hide the attraction that his mere presence had stirred in her. The last thing she needed was her students start gossiping about their professor's crush on the cute guy in the last row.

But then again, if anyone had the right to have a crush on him it was her, right? His official wife?

"Sultry looks? Really Wyatt?" Lucy countered feisty, trying to gloss over the embarrassment that she felt at being caught.

"Yeah well, can you blame her? I mean, come on, talking about the aftermath of the earthquake from 1906? It was a rather hot topic," he replied smugly, putting Florence's pens and finished drawings into his bag. "You were on fire, Lucy."

"So you were listening?" she challenged, lifting the little girl up and sat her onto her hip.

"Not really, like I said, the teacher kept me on my toes. I swear, the way she grilled me with her icy gaze when I turned up late was frightening. A few more minutes and I would have been well done," Wyatt continued his scandalizing tale, following Lucy out of the row.

Lucy glanced back at him, frowning, "I thought you were getting sultry looks? How on earth did they suddenly change into an icy or even frightening gaze?"

"It was the other way round," Wyatt improvised quickly, "But of course with time things heated up pretty quickly during the lecture, effectively melting the ice between us."

"Oh my god," Lucy laughed out loud, "Can you even hear yourself? That is so schmaltzy. Do you honestly believe that works on women?" she scrutinized him with narrowed eyes.

"Well, ask the teacher!" Wyatt countered cheekily, winking at her.

"You know, maybe you are right," Lucy played along, teasingly, "Maybe she actually was interested. Perhaps she even would have taken her chances _if_ , "she emphasized smirking, pausing long enough to be sure that she had his full attention, "if there hadn't been such a long line of girls already formed in front of you. How is any everyday person supposed to compete with a fan club like that?"

Wyatt shrugged nonchalantly, encircled her waist with one arm and stirred her towards the exit, "Guess I'll never find out now. But between you and me," he whispered, leaning closer, "she wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. It so happens that I'm already happily married."

Lucy gave him an irritated side-glance, no idea what she was supposed make of this. Ever since their dinner, he was different somehow. More relaxed perhaps, and less serious.

She had caught glimpses of this carefree Wyatt before, but never in such a huge amount and certainly not over an extended period of time, and she liked what she saw very much indeed. She preferred this flirty teasing Wyatt to the moody one any day, even though it also rattled her more than she would have liked. If she wasn't more careful, than she would truly start throwing sultry looks at him very soon.

xxx

Wyatt was inwardly floating. So what if his attempts at flirting with her were a little rusty, and indeed too schmaltzy, as Lucy pointed out? The important thing was that he made her laugh, and that she genuinely seemed to be as happy as he was right now. She also hadn't protested when he had boldly wrapped his arm around her waist, so he took that as a good sign as well, especially since she still hadn't moved away from him, now that they slowly strolled over the campus together.

The expression on Noah's face was priceless when they approached the agreed meeting point, and he not only spotted him next to Lucy, but their daughter as well. That face alone had been worth it, Wyatt decided highly amused. Take that Carol Preston!

"Who are you?" Noah therefore asked immediately, even before Lucy had the chance to introduce any of them.

"Wyatt Logan," Wyatt said with a hint of condescendence, reluctantly withdrawing his arm from Lucy's waist to offer his hand in greeting. "Lucy's husband."

Astounded, Noah's gaze wandered from Lucy to Wyatt and back again, completely ignoring the presented hand, so Wyatt let it sink to his side instead. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you are married," Noah said taken aback, blinking rapidly while he tried to make sense of this unexpected side-blow.

"That's okay," Lucy said calmly, "It's not like we had enough time on the phone to exchange personal details yet. I for one have no clue either if you are married, or in any other form of relationship, so I would have never presumed that you would know this. Anyway, my husband," Lucy glanced shyly had Wyatt when she called him that for the very first time, "happens to have the day off and was so kind to join us."

"Yes," Wyatt interjected, thoroughly enjoying himself, "I hope you don't mind me tagging along. I always wanted to see where Lucy works, but for some reason we never found the time for this, so I guess we actually have to thank you for finally making it possible."

"Yeah, sure, you're welcome, I guess," Noah stammered, and for a moment Wyatt actually felt sorry for him. This must be awfully awkward for him.

x

Just as before during her lesson, Wyatt quickly zoned out, but not because he was bored or uninterested, on the contrary really. Problem was that his mind had other priorities than actually taking in the words Lucy was saying. He could spend hours listening to her recite dates and facts and watch her face glow up in wonder and excitement. No one should look so pleased when they were giving another person a lecture, but she was, and he was ecstatic to share this with her.

And so he slowly trudged along behind Lucy and Noah with Florence happily hopping beside him. Lucy was once again completely in her element. She was talking fast with wild gestures and she was all smiles and laughs. And from time to time, she turned around, checking up on him, and every time their eyes met, her face seemed to glow even more. Or maybe he was just imagining it, because that was how he felt.

xxx

But by the time they were back at their house, Wyatt had serious doubts if the dinner had been a good idea. On the face of it, this evening looked like a perfectly fine get-together with friends, but in reality it was so much more, and now that it was almost upon them, he got cold feet. And surprisingly this had nothing to do with his suspicions that Noah could be Rittenhouse, or a snob, but everything with the very fact that he was trying to set him up with his kind of previous wife.

What if Noah and Jessica truly fell for each other? Would he be able to sit by and watch it happen? He knew that he loved Lucy now, but it was one thing to let his former love go so that she had the chance to move on, and a totally other thing to watch it happen right in front of him.

On the other hand this would be the ultimate test for him to see if he was truly done with Jessica, or if there was still something left that was holding him back to chase his happily ever after with Lucy. He felt like an ass even thinking about these possibilities, but at least he was honest with himself now, and none of the women would be any wiser regarding his ultimate motivations why he wanted to have this dinner in the first place.

His only comfort was that Noah had turned out way more okay than he had feared, even before he had learned about his family. Maybe even too okay, he grimaced, forcefully hacking the lettuce in front of him into pieces. Not only seemed Lucy to be alarmingly relaxed around him and had laughed a lot during their conversations throughout the day, but then Florence had started to take a liking at him as well, ending with her walking by Noah's side instead of his. And now that awfully nice jerk was actually taking the time to play with her, while he was banned to the kitchen, cooking their dinner.

"Hey!" Lucy startled him out of his thoughts, her warm hand resting comfortingly on his shoulder, "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?" Wyatt deflected her worries at once, trying to sound unaffected.

"I don't know, but if that is how you treat every lettuce when you are preparing a salad, then I think I'll pass," she grinned, pointing at the much too small and kind of mushy pieces that formerly had been part of a perfectly fine and delicious looking lettuce, before he began to wildly attack it with his knife.

"Oh, um," Wyatt grimaced, "It's just that…" Instead of forming a whole sentence, he nodded in the general direction of Noah and Florence.

"I know right!" Lucy scoffed to his surprise, "Kind of sickening how well they get along, isn't it?"

"Yah!"

"But don't worry," Lucy grinned at him, softly squeezing his shoulder, "You are still the number one in her life."

Wyatt huffed at that, "Well, of course I am. After all, I'm the idiot who does all her biding without complaining, and who lets her eat way too many sweets."

Lucy laughed at that, and Wyatt couldn't help but join her. Then they fell silent again, amicably watching Noah play with their daughter while they both were dwelling on their own thoughts.

"God I hate it when my mother turns out to be right," Lucy suddenly spoke up again.

"Right about what?" Wyatt frowned.

"I mean look at them," Lucy groaned, "He _is_ great with kids. And it turns out that we truly are perfect for each other."

"What?" Wyatt gulped, totally blindsided by this revelation.

"It's funny, actually," Lucy laughed, "I was so nervous and tense about the prospect of meeting him today that it never occurred to me once, that I could in fact enjoy this."

Wyatt didn't know what he was supposed to say to this. He felt totally numb all of a sudden. That was so not what he had expected after Lucy's previous behaviour whenever Noah was mentioned.

"It's true," Lucy continued calmly, sounding astounded by her own realisation, "I didn't have the chance to actually talk to him before, you know, when I was engaged to him. All the questions I had would have been way too strange to ask, and so it was more or less impossible to really get to know him without sounding crazy. But my mother was right, we have so much in common, it's scary."

"You don't say," Wyatt croaked hoarsely. His Noah shaped nightmare was instantly back again, but fully formed this time and playing on the floor with his daughter right in front of him, while he was condemned to helplessly watch how everything around him was falling apart.

Luckily, Wyatt was still too shocked to actually feel something, anything really. So he just stood there, tight lipped, squeezing the knife in his one hand so hard that his knuckles turned white, and with his other hand he was holding on to the counter for support.

"No lightening bolt from the heaven's though," Lucy added then, shrugging nonchalantly.

Unable to actually respond to that, Wyatt, however, must have involuntarily made a face that showed his disapproval.

"It's your fault, you know," Lucy accused him good-naturedly, "Ever since you told me about you and Jessica, I kind of hoped that you were right about this. But to be honest, it was rather anticlimactic. Here I am, meeting my seemingly perfect match … and nothing. No spark, no exited tingling in the stomach, or any of that sort of thing that supposedly has to happen. Just a feeling of similarity and contentment."

"Well, that's a start, isn't it?" Wyatt rasped and hurriedly cleared his throat. He was still slightly put out by her confession, but not as gutted any longer. Lucy sounded much too rational and amused about the whole situation to actually give the impression that she wanted to go for it.

"I guess we could have been happy though," Lucy contemplated then, giving him a mischievous side-glance, and Wyatt's face fell again, his heart beating rapidly.

"It's not too late, you know," he forced himself to say, trying to be as selfless as she previously was with him and Jessica, and couldn't believe that his voice was actually working. "I mean you never believed in lightening bolts to begin with, and who says that this is how it is supposed to be anyway? What about the slow burn?"

"The slow burn?" Lucy grinned, raising her eyebrows at him, sceptical.

"Yes, you know, the subliminal attraction that slowly increases with time and then suddenly sneaks up on you when you least expect it and consumes you completely," Wyatt elaborated, very well aware that he was describing his own feelings for her now while suggesting that she was giving Noah a shot.

"No!" Lucy smiled sadly, "That's not going to happen either."

xxx

The evening had been a complete disaster, at least in Lucy's opinion. She had known this would happen, but went along anyway because she had trusted Wyatt's assurance that he hadn't feelings for Jessica any longer. What a load of crap.

If that indeed would have been true, then why the hell couldn't he stop watching her? And if that wasn't torturous enough already, Noah was constantly trying to engage her into a conversation that clearly was meant to be more sophisticated than your every day small talk, which unpleasantly reminded Lucy of the things Henry had told her about his snobby family, and left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She, on the other hand, had desperately tried to get Wyatt's attention, but he more or less had ignored her, leaving her pretty much on her own to deal with Noah. And on the rare occasion that they happened to exchange a few words, Jessica and Noah had fought the whole time and didn't seem like they could agree on anything.

And on top of all of this, Lucy couldn't get her earlier conversation with Wyatt out of her head. It was almost like he was encouraging her to give Noah another chance.

Was that in the end the true reason why he suggested inviting both him and Jessica over? That she could see the connection she had with Noah and give this relationship a try? Making room for Wyatt to be with Jessica without feeling guilty about it? After all, if it hadn't for her and Florence, he could have been with his true love now, and wouldn't have to obey his self-set code of morals.

xxx

"I think that went rather well," Wyatt announced happily when Noah and Jessica were finally gone.

"I couldn't agree more, it was really great," Lucy harrumphed sarcastically.

Wyatt frowned at her irritated, and something dawned on her. "Oh you were being serious?" she asked surprised.

"Yeah, didn't you see them?"

"They were fighting," Lucy pointed out. "That is not good. Unless your plan was that they hate each other."

"The way I see it, that was some serious kind of foreplay," Wyatt retorted, amused.

"Foreplay?" Lucy raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "If that is your idea of foreplay then you are much kinkier than I thought you'd be."

Wyatt grinned at her saucily, "Oh, so you have thought about that, huh?"

Lucy gaped at him flustered, quite obviously lost for words now, so Wyatt took pity in her and said, "I only meant that getting on each others nerves isn't necessarily a bad thing, wouldn't you agree? It can be annoyingly erotic."

"Yah, they really hit it off, in fact so much that I could actually see the sparks between them," Lucy countered, heatedly. "We really should be thankful that they didn't set the house on fire."

"Have you never heard of the phrase opposite attracts?" Wyatt defended his point of view, not going to give in so easily.

"Fine, maybe opposites do attract, but that doesn't mean they are good for each other," was her immediate reply.

Wyatt was shocked by that, he had always thought that he and Lucy were kind of opposites too, and he was very much attracted to her, and so far, they have been great together, at in his opinion.

But then it suddenly occurred to him that Lucy might be jealous. After all, hadn't she admitted earlier that she could see a possible future for her and Noah? Even though she had deflected this at once when he suggested she should pursue it? He had to know for sure, once and for all, and so he braced himself for a possible fight.

"Why do you always have to be so cynical when it comes to love?" he demanded to know.

"I'm not cynical, I'm realistic. Those two, they will never work," she predicted darkly. "Besides, is that really what you want to happen?" she continued to his surprise, totally taking the wind out of his sails with this comment. "Because I saw how _you_ looked at her, Wyatt."

"What do you mean?" he asked perplexed.

Lucy once again raised her eyebrows at him, which she seemed to do a lot today, "Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

"I … no … okay yes … maybe I was looking, occasionally," he admitted guiltily before he groaned in frustration. How was he supposed to explain his feelings throughout this evening without giving her the wrong impression?

"We were married, Lucy," he tried anyway, simply because he had sworn to himself that he would be more open with her. "So of course I still have feelings for her, and yes, maybe I couldn't keep my eyes off of her tonight," he stated again, "but not because I want her back," he emphasized, "but …," he trailed off, shortly contemplating how to say this.

"Just seeing her alive again, Lucy, you have no idea how much that means to me, being able to watch her smile and hear her voice … it's been so long and I never thought I would ever …" Lucy's face relaxed at this and she reached out for his hand to squeeze it in sympathy. "But she isn't _my_ Jessica, not truly," he continued, holding on to Lucy's hand while he spoke. "My memories of her are different, and I'm okay with that, I just want this version of her to be happy. She deserves this second chance at life," he finally finished, full of emotions.

"I'm sorry, Wyatt," Lucy immediately began to apologize, but he wouldn't let her.

"No, it's fine …," he protested, raising his hand reassuringly.

"No seriously," Lucy talked over him. "It was thoughtless of me …"

"Lucy, it's okay, honestly, but in my defence, I swear I didn't even notice that I was doing this."

They both suddenly started to laugh at their attempts to assure one another, and they silently agreed to let it go afterwards.

x

"So, what was your Jessica like?" Lucy asked much later when they had moved over to the couch to end the evening on a more comfortable note.

"What do you mean?" Wyatt sounded nervous.

"Well you said earlier that the Jessica in this timeline isn't the same Jessica that you remember, so … what makes her different?"

"Lucy …" Wyatt stressed. He really didn't want to talk about his Jessica with her. It didn't feel appropriate to him. The last thing he ever wanted Lucy to do was compare herself to the wife he so brutally lost. It was bad enough that _he_ involuntarily did that once in awhile.

"I know you don't like to talk Wyatt, but …,"

"No it's not that," he interfered quickly. "I just … I don't think I should. You know, with everything that has happened between us. I think we are finally heading in the right direction, and I don't want to mess things up."

"What things?"

Wyatt gaped at her. Was she really that ignorant of what was happening between them? "Well, you know, things, like us finally being on the same page and getting this parenting job under control."

"But that is exactly why we should talk about her," Lucy insisted. "If you are not ready for that fine, but I want you to know that you should never doubt that you _can_ talk with me about her. She was your wife, you loved her. And it means that she is also part of who you are now and I respect that."

Wyatt looked at her scrutinizingly. Did she really mean that, or was she just putting up a front for him to make him feel better.

"Well, um," he eventually started reluctantly, "I met her in a coffee shop near this small college in Ohio while I was stationed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base."

"Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?" Lucy exclaimed in amazement, "That's … I mean, … I read all about it when I was contemplating to take the job at Antioch College in Yellow Springs."

"Of course you have," Wyatt laughed, once again marvelled, but not surprised by her knowledge regarding everything that even remotely had to do with history.

"I mean, how awesome is it that in this exact location, near their hometown Dayton, Wilbur and Orwell Wright did many of their pioneer work with their Flyer II between the years 1904 and 1905?" she started rattling off the facts, causing Wyatt to lose himself in her excitement again.

"Wait, did you say you got offered a job at Antioch College?" Wyatt asked suddenly, only now becoming aware of that nugget of information.

"Yes why?" Lucy breathed fitfully, as if she had run a mile instead of only talking too fast and too animatedly.

"That's where Jessica has been an English literature major when we met," he said awestruck, but not really surprised by all these coincidences any longer, and wondered, not for the first time either, if he and Lucy would have ended up together in their original timeline as well if she had taken that job back then. Part of him really liked that scenario and hoped that this indeed would have been the case, but another part instantly felt awfully guilty, because that also would have meant that he never would have married Jessica.

"Oh!" was all Lucy was able to say to this.

"Anyway," Wyatt went back to his story, "Jessica was working part time in the mentioned coffee shop, and … it was amazing, Lucy, we hit it off right away," Wyatt smiled fondly at the memory, "Like we were meant to find each other, you know?"

Lucy gulped at that blunt acknowledgment of affection, but only nodded valiantly.

"I've never experienced anything like that before, or ever since," he added, smiling sheepishly. "There was this instant connection between us and a deep understanding for each other, because we had similar childhoods, I guess. You have to know that Jessica too was some kind of delinquent in her youth. Only difference was that she did it to rebel against her overbearing parents and their impossible expectations of her, whereas I simple had enough of trying to prove everyone wrong and then rather started to comply with other people's misgivings," he shrugged helpless at this admission.

"You see, Jessica lost her brother at a young age, and afterwards her parents became overprotective of her. The result was that she wasn't allowed to do anything teenagers apparently like to do, but at the same time they expected her to do well in school, to do her chores and to behave." Wyatt scrutinized Lucy for a moment, "They actually were a lot like your mom, now that I think about it. So maybe that is why you two became friends in this timeline?"

"Maybe," Lucy agreed almost inaudible, and Wyatt wondered if she was regretting asking about Jessica yet.

"Never mind," he continued, regarding her closely, "Jess couldn't, or didn't want to meet their expectations any longer and run away from home at the age of 16. I run away with 15, so we had that in common too. And we luckily both found a way that prevented us from starting a criminal career," he gave a short laugh at that, still hardly believing how close he had come to stray from the straight and narrow. "For her that had been a handful of really good friends that persuaded her to finish high school and then even to go on to college, and for me it was my grandfather," he smiled, not even trying to hide his endless affection and utterly respect for this man. "Luckily I had the wits to seek him out when I had enough from the rough life. And thanks to him and some of his army buddies, I decided to sign up too and finally got my life back on track."

Lucy smiled at him then, and Wyatt noticed how good it felt to share this memory of his grandfather with her, wishing that she could have met him. He also was dying to know what his grandfather would have thought about Lucy, hoping that he would have liked her at least as much as he had liked Jessica.

"And when I had the chance to join the special forces, and had to move to California, Jessica came along," he disclosed, and was once again startled how similar this sounded to his and Lucy's story in this timeline. "By then she was almost finished with her studies," he went on, "and we agreed that I would move ahead and find a place for us to stay, and she would follow as soon as she got her degree. She said that it didn't matter to her where she was starting to look for a job, so why not try her luck in California."

"Before that happened though, I, uhm, took her to visit my grandpa Sherwin once," Wyatt added shyly, suddenly too nervous to look at her any longer. "And that's were I … well, you know…"

"Kissed her for the very first time?" Lucy suggested, sounding mesmerized by his story now.

"Yeah," Wyatt sighed, finally daring to look at her again. And that's when he saw it. For a long time he thought, he had only imagined it, but her glassy eyes combined with the faraway look, and the goofy smile on her face was unmistakable. She could deny it all she wanted, but Wyatt was certain now that Lucy Preston was a sucker for romance. He had seen it with Bonnie and Clyde, suspected it when she first had heard about Rufus and Jiya, and he was seeing it right now.

And that was probably why settling for ' _I guess we could have been happy_ ' with Noah wasn't good enough for her anymore. She wanted to experience real love. He got that, he really did, but it also made him sad, realising that that most likely meant that she wasn't feeling this with him either.

He swallowed hard, and tried to suppress the stinging heartache that was going to overwhelm him if he let his thoughts linger there, and rather decided to share yet another part of his past with her.

"I used to spend all my vacations with my grandparents," he continued, and was relieved that his voice didn't show any signs of his inner turmoil. "But then my grandmother died when I was 12, almost 13, and I stopped going there afterwards." He huffed humourless, "When people asked me about this, I actually told them that it wasn't cool any longer to hang out with my grandfather at my age, and that's why I didn't want to go there anymore. But the truth was that I simply couldn't take it."

"I get that," Lucy assured him. "You see, after my father died, I had a similar experience," she confessed. "The only difference was that my mother seemed mysteriously fine with his death, and Amy was still too young to actually understand it, so I had no one that I could confide in. Today I think denying her feelings was my mother's way to deal with his sudden death, but at the time, I thought she didn't care, and I didn't dare to talk to her about my own grieve, and so I kind of ended up denying it as well."

Wyatt nodded at that in understanding. It was horrible to picture a little Lucy that wasn't able to seek comfort from her mother, but this once, he couldn't entirely blame Carol. Everyone had their own way to deal with the loss of a loved one and he didn't feel entitled to criticize her this time. No matter how sad and lonely Lucy must have felt because of that.

"My grandfather changed after my grandmother died and I had a very hard time coping with that. He was always sad and way too serious all of a sudden, and I had no idea how to be around him any longer," he related therefore. "Today I can't understand how I ever was able to prefer my father's company to my grandfather's, regardless of state of mind, but back then it seemed to be the easier option."

"From everything you've told me, I understand why it felt like that for you," Lucy said soothingly, grabbing his hand again to assure him. "He was your idol, your safe haven, and then he suddenly changed. It is only natural that this frightened you as a child."

"I've seen it, Lucy, with my grandparents," Wyatt revealed suddenly instead of responding to her compassion, but at least was holding on to her hand more tightly. "True, everlasting love. And for the longest time I thought that is what I had with Jessica too." He shrugged helpless, "Turns out that I was wrong."

"Don't say that!" Lucy choked, overwhelmed by her emotions now, with tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm sure it was the same for you and Jessica."

Wyatt regarded her for a moment. He had assumed a long time ago that she was moved by his relationship with Jessica, or rather by what he had told her about it, but now he realised that he might have painted a wrong picture for her. That he probably had idealised his marriage to some degree.

"We had problems," he therefore admitted. "We not only spent a major part of our marriage away from each other due to my work, but when I got home, we also often fought. To be honest," he sighed, "I'm not sure that we still would have been married these days if Jessica hadn't been killed. She said she wanted a divorce, you know? Right before it happened." He gulped at that confession. He had never told this anyone before. "The thing is, I'm not sure if she actually meant it, or if it was just spoken in anger due to our previous fight, and then she was suddenly gone and …" he trailed off, for the time being too overwhelmed by the feelings this part of the story brought up again.

"Oh my god," Lucy groaned, clapping her hands in front of her face to hide her shock. "Wyatt, I'm so sorry, that must have been so awful on top of everything else."

"But that doesn't mean that it has to be over now," she continued determinedly. "So what if she isn't exactly how you remember her? In consideration what you just told me, maybe that isn't necessarily a bad thing. She doesn't remember all the problems you two had, or that she was thinking about divorcing you," Lucy argued, "Which means you actually have a chance to start anew now, so to say from the scratch. And this time around you won't be gone for extended periods of time, so that part of the problem is solved already."

When Wyatt didn't say anything but simply looked at her totally aghast, Lucy hastened to bring up her last triumph, "I mean look at Rufus and Jiya for example. You told me that Rufus said that she too has changed occasionally during our missions, but here they are, trying to make it work again. And as far as I can tell, they seem to be happy."

"Lucy stop!" Wyatt groaned, sounding frustrated, but that only incited Lucy to go on, "You deserve to be happy too Wyatt," she implored, biting back the tears that threatened to gather in her eyes as she said that. "Don't let a few little changes get into way of your happily ever after."

Wyatt snorted at that, but it came off more mocking than amused, "My happily ever after, huh? I thought you don't believe in that sort of thing."

"Well, maybe I was wrong," Lucy admitted and was relieved when she saw his lips form a genuine smile for the first time in a while. But then the smile vanished just as quickly as it had appeared and only his intense gaze lingered on her, taking her all in at once, making her feel insecure and uncomfortable. Self-consciously, Lucy crossed her arms in front of her, in an unsuccessful attempt to shield her body from his stare.

"I love you, Lucy," Wyatt suddenly said, sounding as serious as possible.

After the words had left his lips, Wyatt waited with bated breath for them to sink in. It probably only took a second, in which Lucy gaped at him in shock, but then she suddenly leaped to her feet, away from him, and Wyatt's anxious heart hit rock bottom.

He had ruined it, totally misinterpreted everything, and now he couldn't take it back anymore. Damn Rufus for incessantly pushing him to do something. Lucy would never believe it now if he added an "only as a friend" to his daring declaration of love.

"What? No!" Lucy cried out when she started pacing the room. "That's not what is supposed to happen! What about Jessica?"

"What about her? I told you it is over," Wyatt groaned, getting to his feet as well.

"Yes but only for the time being, until you get to know her again," Lucy protested, shocked. "She was your bolt of lightning, remember? Your only one!"

"My what now?" Wyatt frowned irritated.

"That's what you told me," Lucy insisted. "You know, with Bonnie and Clyde. You said she was your lightning bolt from the heavens."

"Yeah well, it was kind like that," he admitted distressed. So he had been right, she was taking his marriage as example how things should be. "But I'm sure I've never said that she was my only one."

"Oh really, you could have fooled me," Lucy flared up, causing him to wince at her sudden outburst. "So what was this all about then? Your trip to 1983, the telegram you sent to her from 1962, your almost suicide at the Alamo?"

"Why are you so angry about this? You don't even believe in only ones and meant-to-bes," Wyatt countered befuddled, matching her tone. He had imagined a lot of things that could happen if he told her that he loves her, but certainly not that she would get angry at him for not putting his marriage with Jessica on a pedestal any longer.

"Because … because, that's why I fell in love with you, you idiot," Lucy cried out exasperated, "Your unwavering love for Jessica."

Wyatt stared at her for a moment, then he let out a deep growl, "You've got to be kidding me. Lucy, this is mental, I'm telling you that I love you and you get mad at me for that, because you love me for the way I used to love Jessica?"

"I … I," Lucy stammered helpless, looking heartbreakingly forlorn and about to burst out into tears, but at the same time so unbelievingly endearing that Wyatt couldn't take it any longer. Blazingly fast, he leapt forward and captured her face with both his hands and eagerly pressed his lips against hers, cupping her cheeks with both hands to hold her into position, and also successfully preventing her from drawing back.

Time stood still for a moment while Wyatt was flying high. This was what he had wanted for so long now, that it almost felt like a dream. But the electric charge that immediately went through him when their lips met was all too real and only seemed to get stronger by the second.

So he hadn't just imagined it when he first kissed her back in Arkansas in 1934, and it also didn't only happen because he hadn't kissed anyone before that in a very long time either. It was all because of Lucy. If he needed any more proof that his feelings for her were true, then this would do it. The very thing he sorely had missed when he so stupidly had kissed Jessica a few days ago. Lightening bolts be damned, this was a whole thunderstorm discharging all at once in one blissful moment, and he was loving it.

And then the moment was over. He felt a weak push against his chest and reluctantly drew back from Lucy. She looked flustered and confused, her cheeks flushed and her lips red and slightly swollen. Wyatt had to muster up all his self-restrained to not attack her again right away, but to give her the space, she obviously needed now.

It was only fair, he argued, he hadn't given her any time to object before he just went for it. But there was also no chance that he was going to allow her get away from him completely. So he simply let his hands slide down from her cheeks, along her shoulders and arms until he reached her hands, that were still resting against his chest, and hold on to them. He was determined to keep her at least at arm's length, but that was unnecessary. As soon as Lucy had detached herself a little from him, she leaned forward again and pressed her forehead against his.

"What are you doing?" she whispered breathless, keeping her eyes shut.

"The one thing I should have done a long time ago already," he whispered, drawing back from her a bit so that he could kiss her forehead. He could hear her take in a sharp breath, and he smiled in satisfaction against her tender skin. So he wasn't the only one affected by this.

Lucy still couldn't believe this was really happening. She longed to feel his lips on hers again, but at the same time she was too afraid to move, in case he would vanish all of a sudden. And so she was just standing there, unable to make a decision of what she was supposed to do next, or even to form any kind of coherent thought. Her heart was beating rapidly, her legs felt like jelly, and her stomach was still making dizzying somersaults even though his lips were only touching her forehead now.

Then he moved again, and Lucy gave an unexpected whimper at the sudden loss of the close contact, but fortunately that loss lasted only a few seconds. She felt his hands snake up to her cheeks once more, and when he gently forced her to tilt her face upwards, she automatically opened her eyes again for the first time since he literally jumped at her. Her breath hitched in her throat when she immediately was greeted by a pair of amazingly blue orbs that not only stared back at her, but also seemed to look straight into her soul.

He started to caress her flushed skin while he happily grinned down on her. Involuntarily, Lucy tightened her grasp on his shirt, out of fear that her legs would stop supporting her weight if she didn't hold on to something.

"You are beautiful, you know that?" Wyatt smirked, and Lucy could feel the heat in her cheeks intensify by a hundredfold. She opened her mouth to reply something, but what ever she wanted to say was forgotten when Wyatt took the chance and started to kiss her again. Lucy let out a soft moan when she eagerly gave in and kissed him back fiercely.

She only subconsciously noticed that his hands had left her face at some point and had started to roam over the rest of her body. Usually, she would be bothered by that fact. She wasn't at all prepared for any of this. She hadn't showered since this morning, she wasn't wearing any fancy underwear that could help her feel at least a little more desirable, and she had no idea when she had shaved her legs the last time. But with Wyatt none of these thoughts of insecurity even touched her mind. She was too distracted by the hot kisses he was giving her and too eager to let her own hands explore his body above and eventually beneath his shirt.

The only thing that was even more distracting than his kisses was when her feet suddenly lost the contact to the ground and she found herself swept up in his arms. She must have given an incoherent sound or something, because Wyatt huskily grunted, "Bedroom," as an explanation, and was already carrying her up the staircase, his lips never leaving hers for longer than necessary.

* * *

 _ **See, I thought you might like the ending of this chapter, so I really didn't want to put it off any longer, lol. I had to push it back so many times already because the ideas were piling up and needed to be handled before Lucy and Wyatt would be able to let go of their worries and doubts and just give in to their feelings**_

 ** _As for the history mentioned in this chapter, I did a little research and hopefully got all the stated facts right, but I'm not going to lie, I only scraped the surface of the subject matters. Just enough to feel confident to write about it. So all errors I made are due to my lack of determination to do a more thorough research._**

 ** _Furthermore, I have no idea if it even would have been possible for Wyatt to be stationed at the_ _Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, but as far as I know, it is an army base and it was close enough to Antioch College in Yellow Springs, which conveniently fit the description of Lucy's dream job, that was part of the inspiration for this story. And it not only offers an education in history and anthropology, as you all know are Lucy's specialties, but also English literature, which for some reason I always thought would be suitable for Jessica._**

 ** _I also happen to like the name because I once spent 3 weeks with a host family in Antioch, California near San Francisco, lol._**

 ** _Oh, and there is also a settlement near Yellow Springs that is called Florence, but I swear I only discovered that one after I've already decided to name their little girl so. But feel free to use this information as you please. Perhaps Wyatt and Lucy had a really good time there_ ;)**

 ** _Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and didn't mind the long wait too much._**


	17. The Morning after

_I think Lucy and Wyatt had enough privacy now, so it's finally time to continue with the story :p_

 _But seriously, I had a little trouble making the contents of the chapter flow fluently. I knew what I wanted to write and some parts I had already written before I even posted the first chapter of this story, but it was hard to put the parts together. Anyway, I think I finally got it right, so here it is:_

* * *

 **17\. The Morning after**

Wyatt woke up at the first light of dawn. It took him a few seconds to register where he was, but as soon as he did, his heart started to beat faster and a huge smile appeared on his face. Lucy was snuggled up against his chest, still fast asleep, and he turned his head to have a better look at her. She looked totally content and happy there in his arms.

Wyatt reached over and brushed a lose strand of hair out of her face, overwhelmed by the fact that all of this had truly happened. He still couldn't believe it, but at the same time it felt like the most natural thing to hold her in his arms, like she had always meant to be there.

After his first time with Jessica he had been super nervous, and he remembered how awfully awkward everything he had felt, but with Lucy he was completely relaxed. Maybe it was because they already went through so much together. He wasn't sure and he didn't care, it felt right, and that was all that mattered to him.

Drawing her even closer, he shut his eyes to get back to sleep. But before he had the chance to completely drift off again, he was disturbed by out of tone humming that occasionally was interrupted by inarticulate words. It took him a moment to realize that it was coming through the baby monitor next to him on the nightstand.

Grinning broadly, he and picked it up. Warmth spread through his body as he listened to his daughter's babbling. _His daughter_! Her very existence still baffled him on a daily basis, so it probably wasn't a surprise that it had taken him a few days to finally come to terms with the fact that he indeed had a daughter now.

And then it suddenly hit him with full force what that meant exactly. He and Lucy were connected forever thanks to this little girl. She only existed because of the two of them, and because they somehow had fallen in love with each other. It was such a powerful realization that it almost overwhelmed him.

Well, technically she wasn't really theirs, he grimaced at the thought, but they still shared the same genes, and that's what truly mattered, right? The other Wyatt and Lucy were gone, and so she was theirs now, period.

It was hard though when he thought about all the things he had missed already. Her birth being the main miss of course, but also every huge and small development ever since then. Hearing her laugh for the first time, for example, or her first steps, the first word…, he gulped shakily when the sense of loss was about to get too much.

It probably was even harder for Lucy, he figured then. It must be really surreal for her, suddenly having a child without ever having been pregnant, or having being able to feel the child grow inside of her.

He turned his head again to catch another glimpse of her sleeping form, and then leaned forward to gently kiss her forehead, careful not to wake her.

It could have been worse though, he guessed, and silently chuckled at the thought of coming back to a timeline in which they had a moody teenager to deal with instead of a toddler, and most likely one that instantly would have hated them for replacing her parents.

Or maybe she would have been glad at first, he almost laughed out loud at that notion, depending on the relationship this moody teenager would have had with her real parents at that particular time.

He regarded Lucy for a moment, and felt immense joy that they now would face the prospect of dealing with a moody teenager together one day. That was going to be fun, he knew it would, but he didn't mind waiting a while longer until this scenario became true, for now, he wanted to enjoy his time with their stubborn toddler.

Contented, he closed his eyes again and tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. Only this time it wasn't his thoughts, or his daughter's voice that kept him from drifting off into a blissful slumber, but an annoyingly full bladder that demanded his attention.

When he couldn't ignore the call of nature any longer, Wyatt groaned displeased, and reluctantly got up, careful not to disturb Lucy when he left the bed.

xxx

"Nothing," Rufus announced exasperated, typing in another set of instructions. "I don't get it, absolutely nothing, no sign of the mothership whatsoever. How is that even possible?"

"Maybe it is turned off," Jiya suggested half-heartedly, looking over his shoulders at the monitor.

"It has a nuclear power source," Rufus replied, shaking his head no, "You can't simply turn it off. You can somewhat power it down, yes, but there would still be enough residential energy left that would keep the connection between the lifeboat and the mothership up. That was one of the main reasons why Anthony came up with this idea. Besides the freedom of course to jump whenever and how often we want without recharging it.

We wanted to make sure that the connection between the mothership and the lifeboat would last as long as possible. The sole purpose of keeping the lifeboat after we built the mothership was the chance to locate it in case of an emergency. So focusing on a way to keep the connection up, even if the mothership got damaged, or worse destroyed, was essential when we designed it. And with the seemingly endless power of the nuclear core, that possibility was more or less assured."

"So what else could be the reason then?" Jiya asked curious, still mesmerised whenever he talked about this other timeline and the progress they had made with the time machines.

"I don't know," Rufus sighed, hitting the control panel in frustration, "Perhaps the reset of the timeline did something to the nuclear core that Anthony and Flynn obtained during one of our earlier missions," he speculated, "so maybe it is gone now."

"Sounds plausible," Jiya agreed after thinking it over.

"Yeah well, the mothership still should have emitting a signal for the lifeboat to pick up," he said, frowning in irritation. "At least during and right after the jump and then up to the moment its power run out."

Jiya only nodded at that, not wanting to interrupt his train of thoughts when she didn't have another explanation herself.

"Unless," he continued, still mulling over the facts, "and I'm not entirely sure if that would be a good or bad thing, the mothership has vanished somehow."

"Well, from what you have told me about this Flynn, I'd think that wouldn't be the worst option, would it?" Jiya remarked tentatively.

"Yeah, maybe…," Rufus agreed though he wasn't entirely convinced yet. This scenario sounded too good to be true, that was for sure, but what would be the ultimate consequences? Was it really that easy?

"Anyway, it's getting late," he determined with a look at his watch, "We should try finding this USB stick now, that Lucy has mentioned, and then get the hell out of here before anyone finds us snooping around."

xxx

Lucy slowly woke up about an hour after Wyatt had left her. Still half asleep she turned over and reached out for him, and suddenly was wide awake when she found his side of the bed vacated. For an awful moment she wondered if he had been there at all, but then the memories of the previous night returned with so much clarity that she was fairly certain that it hadn't been just her imagination running wild again.

But shortly after the relief that it really had happened, the disappointment settled in that he had left her while she was still fast asleep, and then instantly the doubts were back as well. What if he regretted it?

No, she was just being silly now, they just spent the night together, for heaven's sake, and even though he hadn't told her again that he loves her, he definitely had made her feel loved.

Lucy's heart beat rapidly in her chest when she eventually found the courage to leave the bedroom and go downstairs. Why was she so nervous, she wondered, wishing the uncomfortable knot in her stomach would simply disappear and her shaky breaths would return to normal.

Because it seemed too good to be true, Lucy realized then. This is what she had wanted for such a long time now that it still felt like just another one of her dreams, even though a very vivid one for a change. And she had had her fair share of those ever since she had met him about a year ago.

At first he didn't even have a face, she remembered, but on a subconscious level, she had always known that it had been him who visited her during those nights and left her flustered and full of longing the following morning. While he was still faceless, she could handle seeing him in person the next day uninhibited, but when her dreams became more accurate, giving her the chance to succumb to her growing attraction in more detail, Lucy had always been awfully nervous every time she had to see him afterwards for real again. She was sure he could spot the truth about her feelings for him written blatantly all over her face if he just paid close enough attention.

And now that her dreams had crossed over to reality, Lucy was more nervous than ever before. Now he knew for sure what was going on within her, and that was a very scary development. Even though Lucy trusted him with all her heart, it still was highly unsettling how much power he suddenly had over her.

She had been in relationships before, but as she now knew, she had never been fully invested in them. So how was it possible that even though she never truly had been in love with anyone before, and had held so much of her personality back during those times, that the guys were still able to break her heart when the relationships ended?

And what did that mean for her and Wyatt? Could she survive it if he came to his senses and realized that he made a huge mistake and that it wasn't truly her he loved?

The thought alone was so unbearable that Lucy could feel a hard lump forming in her throat that turned every breath into a massive struggle.

By then Lucy had reached the kitchen/living area and spotted Wyatt kneeling on the floor in front of the sofa, playing with Florence. Luckily his back was turned to her so that he hadn't noticed her yet. Lucy almost gulped when her stomach clenched up at the prospect of having to interact with him very soon.

How should she behave around him form now on? Was she truly allowed to touch him now whenever she wanted? Would he mind if she reached out for him and run her hands over his chest? Maybe even beneath his shirt? What would he do if she simply walked over to him and kissed him on the mouth? Preferably while running her hands through his hair or across the stubble on his cheeks?

For a moment, she could picture doing all of this so clearly in her mind that she almost convinced herself that it would be okay, but then, in the last minute, she chickened out.

Lucy cursed herself for being such a coward. She was an emancipated woman who didn't believe in gender roles, but here she was, hoping that he would make the second move as well as the first one yesterday, sweeping her off her feet once more, figuratively or literally, and would make her feel like she was the most desired person on earth again.

"Morning!" Lucy announced her presence, and hurried over to the coffee pot without making eye-contact, trying desperately to look nonchalant, hoping against hope that she could hide her awkwardness from him this way. With slightly trembling hands, she busily filled her mug, still not paying any further attention to Wyatt, while at the same time being super sensitive to his every move.

Just as she had hoped and feared, Wyatt was soon approaching her and Lucy tensed up in nervous anticipation. She closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself for a rebuff.

"Morning," he suddenly murmured into her ear, encircled her waist from behind, and pulled her close against him while he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Lucy took a sharp breath of surprise and then sighed softly in relief. So either this was truly happening now, or she was still fast asleep, having the most amazing dream ever. Either way, she instantly let go of the tension in her body and relaxed against him, thoroughly enjoying this wonderful moment.

"Sorry for leaving so early," Wyatt whispered, breathing her in, "But once she noticed that I was awake, our daughter wouldn't let me go back to sleep again."

Lucy gave a sound between a snort and relieved sigh, while she tilted her head to give him better access to her neck. Of course there had been an explanation for his absence, she should have known that. And an awfully sweet one as well.

"So beautiful," Wyatt mumbled against her skin between kisses.

"If you give me a hickey, Wyatt, you are so gonna get it," Lucy warned him half playful and half serious when he started to softly nibble and lightly suck the spot of his undivided attention.

"Yah?" he grinned, not stopping his attacks on her neck in the slightest. "I'm looking forward to it!"

"I'm serious, Wyatt!" Lucy giggled, turning around in his arms. "I have another class tomorrow morning, I can't show up there with such an obvious mark."

Wyatt grinned smugly, "Why not? At least that would make it clear to all your naughty students that their hot teacher is already taken. Just in case they didn't take the hint yesterday already," he added with a wink.

"Oh is that the reason why you wanted to come to my lecture?" Lucy asked, raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

"No, but it certainly was the perfect opportunity to get the message out there. And well, I really couldn't stand the thought of you being alone with Noah, so…" he shrugged impishly, before leaning in to finally kiss her on the lips.

xxx

"Crap," Rufus cursed under his breath when the door to the storage room opened and Anthony Bruhl walked in. And if that wasn't bad enough already, he also was accompanied by Emma Whitmore.

Frantic, he looked around for a hiding place, but their only option would have been to climb back into the lifeboat, which would have taken too long, so he and Jiya just stood there rooted to the spot with guilty expressions on their faces. Quick-witted, Rufus had at least the sense to let the USB stick slip out of sight into his pocket. He didn't think Anthony or Emma would know anything about it, but he didn't want to risk losing it either.

"Told you I heard something," Emma said, eyeing them coolly.

"Yes, you were right. Sorry for doubting you," Anthony said with a frown, then turned to the busted culprits. "What are you two doing here? This storage room is off-limits for anyone but Emma, Connor Mason and myself."

"We, uh, were just checking up on something," Jiya offered vaguely.

"Yeah we were just running some tests," Rufus interjected, "Using the in vivo model, so to speak, instead of the simulation. To get better results."

"What kind of tests?" Emma asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspicious.

"Well, you know," Rufus mumbled, avoiding to look at her directly, "stuff."

"Stuff?" Emma repeated sneering.

"Yep!" Rufus confirmed, sounding annoyingly dimwitted when he uttered that, his voice embarrassingly high.

"It is Rufus, right?" Anthony suddenly asked, his face lighting up at the realization, and the tense atmosphere was almost gone when he extending his hand in greeting.

"Um, yes, hi!" Rufus said awkwardly, nervously glancing from him to Emma and back again before he accepted the offered hand, unsure what to make of this.

"I think we've already met," Anthony continued, shaking Rufus' hand. "Back in 2008, if I recall correctly. Mason brought you along to this very important conference, didn't he?"

"Yes, he did!" A voice that didn't belong to him answered in Rufus' stead, "You have a very good memory Anthony," Mason added.

Surprised, Rufus and Jiya wheeled around when Mason joined them from the other side of the storage room. To Rufus knowledge there was no other entrance than the one that Emma and Anthony had just used, and so neither he nor Jiya had any idea how long Mason had been in there with them, lurking in the shadows, observing them.

"I don't know about that," Anthony replied, sounding flattered. "But it isn't every day that you get excited about a new candidate to join your staff, so it was quite memorable."

"True," Mason replied good-naturedly, "and I had high hopes for the young man in question as well. But then Rufus here," Connor clapped him rather hard on the shoulder, making him wince, "rather wanted to invent computer games instead of playing with the big toys. Thankfully we could win him back over just in time. Because without his help, we still wouldn't have solved the problem with the compensator."

"That was you?" Anthony regarded him with increased interest, "I'm impressed!"

"Yeah? Well, that was nothing," Rufus blushed, feeling like a fraud. It had been Anthony who initially figured out the problem, not him.

"You are being too modest," Emma chipped in, and Rufus wasn't sure if the dangerous glint in her eyes was really there when she said this, or if he was just imagining it. "You should enjoy it while you still can," she added equivocally.

Rufus choose not to respond to this, he wouldn't have know what to say anyway, and so he just gave a short, hardly visible nod to indicate that he had heard her.

"Stop intimidating him, Emma," Anthony chuckled when he noticed Rufus subdued expression, "Rufus is doing a fabulous job, and we really should encourage him to continue that way and not scare him off."

"What do you mean? What did I say?" Emma asked innocently, frowning slightly at the accusation.

"Come on," Anthony said amused, putting an arm around her shoulders and stirring her away, "You know very well what you just did."

Mason followed behind them, but as soon as they were out of the door, and therefore out of earshot, he turned back around. "I don't know what the two of you were doing in there," he pointed at the lifeboat, "but I hope for your sake that it was in interest of this project. I didn't want to expose you in front of Anthony and Emma, cause as you might have notice, they, or more accurately Emma, is not very fond of your involvement at all, and I had to get to great length to assure both of them that you are the right choice for this job, Rufus. That you are trustworthy and capable. But pull a stunt like this ever again and you are out," Mason warned, starring him down in a serious manner. "As for you Jiya," he continued, now turning his full attention to her, "I thought you would know better than trying to sneak around behind my back. As you very well know, I have safeguards placed all over this facility, reporting every unauthorized move to me directly. I expect your full report of what exactly the two of you were doing in there by tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"Yes sir," Rufus replied abashed, while Jiya only managed to nod. He should have known this would happen. After all, he had experienced something similar with Connor Mason before, so he of all people should have been more careful.

"Good!" Connor said, and all of a sudden his stern expression was gone and he was smiling again. "Then continue with whatever 'tests' you were running just now, but this time with my explicit authorization. I'm looking forward to hear all about it tomorrow." And with that, he was gone too, leaving two stunned individuals behind.

"OH. MY. GOD," Jiya squealed when she was certain that he couldn't heart her any longer. "Did that really just happen? What the hell did you do to impress him like that?" she asked admiringly.

"Me?" Rufus asked perplexed. "Why would you think this is because of me?"

"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes, "I've been working here for 3 years now and although I know they appreciate my work, I would have never gotten away with something like that unpunished. And then he also gave us permission to continue without even knowing what we were doing."

"Well, Connor and I go back a few years," Rufus admitted fondly. "At first he was just my mentor and for lack of a better word, my guardian I guess, helping me through some tough times. Then later on we became friends, and after a while, I even regarded him as part of my family." Rufus closed his eyes for a moment before he continued his story. His expression becoming more serious and almost sad, when he picked up the thread again, "But all of this changed when I found out that he was working for or with Rittenhouse. To be honest, I don't know if I can trust him anymore, and he can never know what we really did in there, so we better hurry up and find a believable explanation for our presence in the lifeboat."

"Yeah all right," Jiya agreed instantly, baffling Rufus with her complete faith that he was doing the right thing. "Still, this was amazing," she squealed again. "Not only Mason's trust in you, but also Anthony Bruhl's high regard for your great invention," she giggled. "I mean, if I didn't know that all of this was a big load of crap, I'd actually be mighty impressed myself now."

"Hey!" Rufus protested. "It wasn't all a lie, I _did_ help with the problem. I might not have been the one who ultimately solved it, but I have you know that I did a lot of the basic work that eventually led to Anthony being able to find the solution."

xxx

"We should have done this much sooner," Wyatt whispered breathless after a particular long and passionate kiss, resting his forehead with closed eyes against hers.

"I agree," Lucy sighed contently, "But don't you dare blame this on me, I wasn't the one hang up on a lost love," she teased, but then froze on the spot when she became aware of what she had just said. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry Wyatt, I didn't mean it like that," she quickly began to apologize while she watched his face fall. How could she have said something like that? And now of all times when she finally got him? Why did she have to ruin it before it even had the chance to really start between them?

"No, it's true," Wyatt gulped hoarsely, letting go of her and took a step back. "I guess you could say that it was my fault."

"Wyatt no, I didn't…" Lucy pleaded desperately, already missing his hands on her.

"But Lucy," Wyatt interrupted her at once, looking her directly into the eyes. "You understand that I had to do it, right? We were married! What kind of husband, or person in general, would I have been if I hadn't at least tried to get her back when I had the chance? I mean, if I had let this opportunity slip through my fingers, what would that have said about me? I know I hurt you when I decided to go back to 1983 to prevent her murder, but I … I had to do it. Otherwise I never would have been able to let go and move on. Certainly not with you, a constant reminder that time-travel is possible and that I missed my chance to save Jessica."

"I know Wyatt, I…" Lucy tried to assure him, hoping that he would give her a moment to explain herself, but Wyatt wouldn't let her.

"But for the record," he talked over her again, "after this fiasco, I _did_ move on. I'm not gonna lie and say that it was easy, because it wasn't, in fact it probably was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I swear, I finally was able to let her go. Thanks to you Lucy!"

"You…," Lucy had to blink back the tears that were gathering in her eyes. "You did?" she asked hopeful.

"I'm sorry I was such an idiot," Wyatt said, lovingly brushing the single tear away that had managed to escape despite her efforts to hold it back, and was now running down her cheek. "I fought my growing feelings for you much too long, until it was nearly too late, and I almost had to witness history repeating itself."

Lucy frowned at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean our last mission of course and that I could have lost you," Wyatt clarified, pressing a quick kiss onto her forehead before he continued. "Right then and there in 1843, just a couple of feet away from me, and it would have been my fault all over again."

"How would that have been your fault?" Lucy demanded to know, shocked by his reasoning.

"How that would have been my fault?" Wyatt repeated bitterly, the self-loath written all over his face. "It is my job to protect you, Lucy, and I wasn't able to do that. So how would that not have been my fault? Do you have any idea what it was like to sit there tied to Rufus while Flynn shot those Rittenhouse dicks one after another, and every single time, I was so afraid that one of them could be somehow related to you, and that you would disappear right in front of me, just because one of your ancestors died before he was supposed to die."

"I get _that_ ," Lucy said, now framing his face with her hands, forcing him to look at her. She knew that what she was going to tell him next could very well be a huge mistake, but he had a right to know. Especially now that they were … together? "And your fears weren't ungrounded either. My mother told me that one of my ancestors, Thomas Cahill, was the only survivor of the massacre, but that still doesn't make it your fault, Wyatt!"

"The hell it doesn't," Wyatt croaked, visibly shaken by this revelation, and as endearing as Lucy found his protectiveness of her, it also annoyed her a little bit. Especially when he was beating himself up for something he had had no control over.

"Wyatt, do you take me for a self-reliant person?" Lucy asked therefore, catching him completely off guard with this question.

"You know I do!" he said immediately, blinking at her in confusion.

"Then stop doing that!" Lucy said forcefully. "I know you want to protect me, but I'm perfectly capable of making my own choices. I knew the risks, and I accepted them willingly. So if anything would have happened to me, that would have been my fault, not yours."

"But!" Lucy continued, raising her hand to stop his protests that were about to come. "I've never once doubted that you would do everything in your power to protect me. And as far as I can tell, you've haven't failed me yet."

Wyatt grimaced at that, tormented, and Lucy was sure that he was thinking at least of a dozen moments that he considered a failure on his side, and if possible, she loved him even more for that.

"Wyatt, you can't take the blame for everything that has happened to us during those missions," Lucy tried again to console him. "Some things are just beyond your control, and there is nothing you could have done to change it. You got that?"

"I…" Wyatt sighed deeply, but then nodded reluctantly. "Fine, maybe some things are beyond my control, but…"

"If you want to feel guilty about something," Lucy went on, not letting him finish his sentence of self-doubt, "Then feel guilty that you left me alone this morning and I had to wait way too long for my good morning kiss!"

xxx

"And you are sure it is okay, that we just show up there again?" Jiya asked for the umpteenth time, when they hurried to leave Mason Industries. "I mean the last time we did that, they just got up. Lucy wasn't even dressed yet."

Rufus sniggered at the memory, "Much to Wyatt's delight."

"Be serious!" Jiya demanded. "I really don't want to intrude. I hardly know them."

"Yeah, but they know you, so trust me on this, they won't mind one bit!" Rufus tried to assure her. "On the contrary actually," he grimaced, "Wyatt will most likely skin me alive if we don't tell them right away what we have found out."

"You are not truly afraid of him, are you?" Jiya frowned, regarding him with a side-glance.

"A little maybe," Rufus shrugged, pondering this over. "Though afraid isn't the right word, more like apprehensive. He can be really intimidating if he wants to be."

"Does he now?" Jiya wondered. "To me he didn't look scary or intimidating at all."

"Well, that is because he was only armed with a smile and a toddler last time, but I have seen him in full action, with a real gun, and in a very awful mood," Rufus shuddered at the memories. "Believe me, you don't want to get on his bad side then. Been there, done it. And so has Lucy, by the way, so ask _her_ if you don't believe me."

"Still, I don't think what we found out is enough to justify us not only leaving work this early, but also to disturb them," Jiya continued to second-guess his decision.

"Are you kidding me?" Rufus asked surprised.

"All we discovered is that the lifeboat hasn't picked up any trace of the mothership. It's not that big of a deal."

"On the contrary!" Rufus protested at once, looking scandalized. "Like I've already told you earlier, it most likely means that something must have happened to the mothership."

"Yes, but that is what you guys have assumed already anyway so…"

"And what about Anthony and Emma?" Rufus interjected. "They definitely are up to something, if you ask me. And Connor might know more than he lets on as well. Who knows how much he has really heard and seen earlier. If words get back to Rittenhouse that there is a fully functional time-machine in the storage of Mason Industries, things could get ugly pretty quickly," Rufus prophesized darkly.

"I think you are overreacting," Jiya said calmly, grinning at his exaggeration, amused.

"That's only because you don't know them," Rufus defended himself. "Anyway, Wyatt surely would like to know this right away. No matter how insignificant you think all of this is."

xxx

"You know, I wanted you since 1934," Lucy admitted sheepishly before kissing him again. Wyatt kissed her back for a moment then pulled back to look at her. "Really? Since 1934, huh?" he said, frowning. "Yeah well, I've always known that you are a bit slow when it comes to love."

Disconcerted, Lucy backed away from him. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked embarrassed.

"It means," Wyatt said with twinkling eyes, pulling Lucy close by encircling her waist with his arms and interlacing his fingers behind her back so that she couldn't get away again, "that _**I**_ already started to feel something for you during our time in Pennsylvania in 1780 and this feeling only intensified while involuntarily staying in this lovely hotel in Chicago in 1893."

"Very funny," Lucy scolded him, slapping him lightly on his chest.

"But I think it was during this awful incident in 1843 that I suddenly knew for sure that I wanted to try things with you, and see how it might go. Though I have to admit that I've never pictured ending up being married to you with a child so soon."

"Why not?" Lucy played along. "You'd think 200 years, give or take, are more than enough time to make a commitment?"

Wyatt chuckled at that, "Yeah well, apparently I don't like to rush things."

"I think it was worth the wait though," Lucy smirked at him.

"Yah?"

"Yah!"

"But just between you and me," Wyatt said smiling, "I did have a pretty bad case of jealousy in 1944."

"1944, huh?" Lucy frowned at him in surprise. That was unexpected.

"Yah, it was horrible, and I couldn't even understand why, to be honest. Caught me out of the blue, actually. Even Rufus noticed it and wouldn't stop teasing me about it."

"So enlighten me, of whom were you jealous then, Ian Fleming or me?" Lucy asked, drawing invisible patterns across his chest with her index finger.

Wyatt narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, contemplating his reply. "Definitely you!" he eventually said grinning. "I mean, come on, James Bond! I would have given anything to accompany him as his secretary."

The tracing finger stopped for a moment and then, rejoined with his four neighbors, lightly slammed down on his chest in a scandalized manner. Wyatt quickly caught her hand in his before she could attack him again and kissed it.

"What about Robert Lincoln though," Lucy asked curiously, wondering how far back she had an effect on him already. After all, 1944 had been pretty early too and Ian Fleming didn't have nearly as much of an impact on her as Robert Todd Lincoln had had. "You seemed okay with him."

"Well, not really," Wyatt admitted sheepishly. "I noticed your crush on him, but back then I was still fully set on not liking you, so…" he shrugged nonchalantly. "I would have claimed my rights as your brother though to give him the boot if it had gotten any further."

Lucy smiled at that, "I don't think I would have liked such a brotherly display very much."

"Yeah well, I wouldn't have cared. I know for sure that I would have made a complete ass of myself without even knowing why, because there was no way I would have even remotely suspected that I could have liked you back then," Wyatt revealed unashamed. It was the truth, and he was not going to sugarcoat it for her just because he now knew what an idiot he had been.

"That would have made two of us then," Lucy grinned amused. "I tried to convince myself for the longest time that you were the most annoying person I've ever met, and that my quickened pulse in your presence was only the result of how infuriating you have been the whole time."

Wyatt laughed out loud at that.

"That strategy kind of worked too," Lucy continued happily, "until you kissed me that is, then I knew what was really going on with me."

Wyatt gave her a lopsided grin at that admission, lovingly stroking her cheeks and the corners of her mouth with his thumbs.

"But seriously Wyatt didn't you feel anything back in 1934?" Lucy asked before she could lose the courage again. This question had bugged her ever since. "Because I thought you might have…"

Wyatt didn't reply immediately, but he also didn't retreat from her, like she had feared for a moment he might do, no, it was rather like he was contemplating how to answer her question honestly.

"I didn't fall for you back then, Lucy, sorry. Not consciously anyway," he finally said, "but I _definitely_ felt something. Actually I felt a whole lot of things. At first I was really pissed at you because of that stupid engagement ring that forced us to act like a couple, and you know … me telling _that_ story."

Lucy nodded in understanding. That must have been highly uncomfortable for him.

"Then after the kiss … I don't know … I really enjoyed it, which took me completely by surprise as I hadn't expected that at all, and it confused the hell out of me because I wasn't sure if it was because I hadn't kissed anyone in a very long time, or if it was because I kissed you. And then I felt guilty because I didn't want to enjoy it." Wyatt blushed sheepishly. "And later on, I also might have been a little annoyed with you when you wouldn't stop talking about only ones, fate and possibilities because it made me thinking about it as well, and that was the last thing I wanted to do in that moment, you know, while being forced to lay so close to you on this way too small bed with you partly undressed." He snorted at the memory, "That was pure torture Lucy."

"That bad?" she asked, sounding apologetic, but the grin on her face betrayed the genuine intention of her remorse.

"And I was worried the entire time," Wyatt continued more serious now. "Worried that Clyde would see right through us, that anything could happen to you, that we wouldn't get away in time and so on."

"I didn't know all of this was going on inside of you," Lucy whispered astounded. "I'm sorry that I …"

"No Lucy, don't apologize. I might have hated all those feelings back then, because they confused the hell out of me, but I guess it was actually good for me. You are good for me!" Wyatt emphasized, looking deep into her eyes to show her the honesty behind his words.

"You are good for me as well," Lucy beamed at him. "I don't think I've ever felt more alive, or courageous, or challenged, or … well, loved," she shrugged sheepishly, "ever before. And that is mostly your doing as well, so thank you."

Wyatt beamed back at her and simply kissed her on the lips again instead of responding in any other way after all their declarations.

"I have to admit though," he continued chuckling a while later, "my advice to cut Noah loose might not have been very selfless back then. I kind of hated the idea of you trying to give him a chance."

"Oh really?" Lucy asked frowning, "But then why did you suggest again that I should do just that only yesterday?"

Wyatt groaned in frustration, "I'm so sorry, that was stupid me trying to be generous. For a moment I thought you actually like the guy, and I didn't want to stay in your way in case you do."

"I do like the guy," Lucy smirked, "but not like that. Only as a possible friend."

"Thank goodness," Wyatt sighed relieved, resting his forehead against hers. "You have no idea how gut-wrenching it was just to think of you trying to give him a chance."

"Actually I do," Lucy whispered back. "Remember Jessica?"

Wyatt groaned again, "Right now, I'm trying my hardest not to. I'm so sorry, Lucy, I know all of this must have been horrid for you, and I…"

Lucy stopped him by putting her index finger over his lips, "I get it, Wyatt, you don't have to explain it to me. I know all of this wasn't easy for you either. And I'm not blaming you for anything."

"You are amazing, you know that?" Wyatt mumbled against her finger.

"Keep talking, and I might start believing you," Lucy joked.

"You have always been amazing, Lucy," Wyatt said seriously. "I've thought so right from the beginning."

"Yeah right," she retorted sceptically, "I remember our first mission, I was there too, you know? And didn't you just admit that you were set on not liking me back then?"

"Yeah so?" Wyatt shrugged nonchalantly, "That doesn't mean that I didn't found you amazing. And if I remember correctly, it was partly your fault that I had a hard time remaining impassive."

"Oh my god," Lucy groaned, burying her face into his chest, "you are not talking about me taking my bra off in front of you, are you?" she mumbled against his shirt.

"I sure do," Wyatt grinned smugly. "I swear I tried to give you some privacy, but in the end I simply had to look," he confessed, "I mean it's not every day that a beautiful woman removes her bra in front of me."

"You thought I was beautiful?" Lucy asked unconvinced. "You could have fooled me. If I remember correctly, you referred to me as your _**older**_ sister."

"Come on Lucy, I noticed how beautiful you are right away," he laughed unashamed. "I didn't like it though. In fact, back then I hated how attracted I was to you from the very moment I saw you sitting there in the waiting room of Mason Industries. And I guess I was a little nasty towards you, because of that. And because I thought you would rather be a hindrance than a help."

Scandalized, and a little shocked that he had thought that, even though she had been thinking along the same lines, Lucy gaped at him speechless.

"What?" Wyatt grinned at her knowingly, gently brushing a strand of her hair out of her face. "I'm pretty sure you didn't think very highly of me either."

Busted, Lucy blushed in shame and stammered, "Well, I … it's not that …

"Admit it," Wyatt challenged, "apart from finding me annoying, you also thought I was some stupid brute that would blindly follow orders without thinking twice about the consequences, didn't you?"

"And I was right to believe that," Lucy countered at once, "Because that is exactly what you were doing in the beginning."

"I know I was, and it gave me immense pleasure seeing you all riled up because of that," Wyatt laughed, "but most importantly it distracted me from my silly attraction for what I thought was a snobby and kind of stuffy history professor who thought she knew everything better just because she read about it in some dusty, old books."

"Wow," Lucy gulped appalled. "I had no idea I made such a great impression on you," she mumbled sarcastically.

"The joke was on me though," Wyatt continued, regarding her full of love. "Because you actually did know what you were talking about, and you proved to be the exact opposite of snobby or stuffy which unfortunately was a mature turn-on for me."

"Sorry?" Lucy offered, unsure how to react to this confession.

"It's a little late for being sorry, the damage is done," Wyatt growled deeply, before attacking her mouth with his own without a warning. Then, suddenly, he lifted her up, their lips never breaking contact, sat her down onto the kitchen counter and moved between her legs.

"You know we have an audience, right?" Lucy reminded him giggling, while he showered her throat with heated kisses.

"Yeah, I know," Wyatt murmured against her skin before he turned around to look at their daughter too. "But maybe she won't notice."

"Wha… no, Wyatt, I'm not doing this in front of her," Lucy spluttered scandalized. "No matter how distracted she seems to be."

Wyatt snorted at that, "I was just kidding, Lucy, I don't want to scare her for life. But I have to say this is very tempting," he smirked, letting his hands wander under her shirt just above her hips to gently stroke her sides with his thumbs.

"Yah?" Lucy challenged, drawing him a little closer by linking her legs behind his body.

Wyatt took a sharp breath and buried his face in the crook of her neck once more, while his hands slid up her back beneath her shirt.

"Do you think _they_ ever did this?" Lucy asked, referring to their other selves. "Here in my mother's kitchen?"

"God damn it, Lucy," Wyatt groaned exasperated. "Your mother, really? You certainly know how to ruin the mood."

Lucy only laughed at that and let her hands run across his cheeks and through his hair, just as she had pictured herself doing so when she came down into the kitchen this morning. "You can thank me later when you cooled down a little and you realize that it would have been more difficult to stop if I let you go on a little further."

"Maybe you are right," Wyatt nodded acquiescent, "Still, this was a terrible thing to say. I'm not going to regard this kitchen in a neutral way any longer."

x

Lucy was just contemplating if it was possible to convince Florence to take an early nap so that she and Wyatt could continue their enticing activities in the bedroom when the door bell rang.

"Just ignore it! They'll leave soon enough," Wyatt said confidently, starting his explorations of her body again despite her warning and the fact that they were still in her mother's kitchen.

But whoever was in front of the door either was very persistent, or knew perfectly well that they were home and couldn't take the hint.

"What the hell," Wyatt groaned throatily, when the door bell rang once again, this time much longer and kind of urgent. "I'm going to kill whoever is on the other side of _that_ door."

Lucy tried to hide her amusement behind her hand, but even though her mouth was covered, it did nothing to muffle the snigger that burst out of it. But she slightly sobered when Wyatt indeed went to answer the door and left her behind full of longing for him and his kisses.

"Three guesses who dared to disturb us," Wyatt grumbled annoyed when he returned.

But Lucy didn't even have time to guess even once before Rufus and Jiya showed up behind him.

"Sorry," Jiya mumbled awkward, nervously glancing at Wyatt and obviously feeling out of place.

"What are you sorry for?" Lucy asked, still highly amused by the whole situation, and quickly pulled Jiya in a welcoming hug to make her feel better.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Wyatt asked, sounding more harshly than he had intended to, "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Yeah well, Jiya and I were investigating the lifeboat last night and…"

"Last night?" Wyatt cut in confused, "didn't you want to do that the previous night already?"

"Early morning, actually," Rufus corrected him, "And yes we did, but we weren't the only ones who thought it was a great idea to get an early start and so we couldn't risk sneaking into the storage. Anyway, we went there last night instead, and…"

"Why don't you take a seat first," Lucy suggested then. "And how about some coffee? I sure could need one before we get started with this."

"She is right," Wyatt sighed resigned, offering Jiya and Rufus with his hand to sit down onto the couch, not longer thinking that they would leave again anytime soon. "We can also discuss this in a more comfortable manner."

"We need more seating furniture," Lucy said decisive when she returned with the coffee, and found all seats already taken, with Jiya and Rufus on the couch and Wyatt occupying their only arm chair. Then her eyes fixed on the couch and narrowed. "But then again, I never liked the couch to begin with, so I'll say we get rid of it entirely and buy a whole new one, complete with matching arm chairs."

"Fine with me," Wyatt agreed immediately.

"I mean seriously, there are so many changes, but we still ended up with this ugly, old thing. What are the odds?"

"Beats me," Wyatt grimaced, "And it not even comfortable when you have to spend the whole night on it."

Lucy stared at him appalled, "Are you serious? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why?" Wyatt smirked, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto his lap. "Would you have invited me into your bed sooner if I had told you that?"

"Maybe," Lucy smiled back, "Though technically, I didn't invite you in yesterday either," she shrugged, "you more or less took care of that on your own."

"Yeah well," Wyatt mumbled, leaning forward to steal a quick kiss, "You seemed to be fine with it, if I recall correctly."

"More than fine, actually," Lucy grinned, tenderly stroking his cheek for a moment before she kissed him back.

"So!" Rufus said loudly after his initial state of shocked surprise, trying to draw their attention away from each other. "Before you two get _way_ too cosy over there, or start shopping for furniture together, could we please focus on more important things first? At least for a minute?"

But all he achieved was that Wyatt even deepened the kiss.

"Guys, seriously," he whined, "This is kind of disgusting."

"I have no idea what you are complaining about," Wyatt smirked, still more focused on Lucy than on Rufus. "You were the one who wouldn't stop nagging me to make a move."

"Yeah, but…" Rufus breathed faintly.

"Did he now?" Lucy asked surprised, effectively cutting Rufus' feeble protests short.

"Incessantly!" Wyatt grimaced, rolling his eyes.

Before Wyatt was able to process what was happening, Lucy leapt from his lap and went over to Rufus, squeezing in next to him onto the arm rest of the couch, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hey!" Wyatt exclaimed indignant. "What the hell?"

"Rufus, you are the best," Lucy said, ignoring Wyatt and then engulfed Rufus in a tight side-hug.

Rufus grinned smugly at Wyatt while snaking one of his arms around Lucy to return her impulsive embrace triumphantly.

"Oh, please," Wyatt snorted, "Look who has turned into a lady's man all of a sudden."

"Jealous?" Lucy asked provocatively, resting her head sidewise against Rufus' so that she could look at Wyatt, while still tightly embracing Rufus.

"Nah," he dismissed her inquiry with a wave of his hand, "I'm good."

"Suit yourself," Lucy shrugged, showing no sign of leaving her place next to Rufus anytime soon, "But as it happens, I always thought that Rufus and I make a great team together. Right Rufus?" she asked, beaming at him.

"That's true," Rufus agreed, grinning. "Especially every time we have to team up against a certain moody soldier boy."

"Yah, remember when we were stuck in 1754? His mood the first couple of days was unbearable," Lucy pointed out with a grimace.

"How could I forget?" Rufus went along down memory lane with her, "I'd say it was at the same level with his attitude in Las Vegas in 1962. The way he treated us or Judith Campbell was just mean."

"True," Lucy nodded, "Though personally I think it was still worse back in Pennsylvania during the French and Indian war. He constantly flared up at me no matter what I was trying to do or say."

"Yes, and you deserved it, Lucy," Wyatt chipped in calmly.

"I did what?" Lucy asked scandalized, her cheeks growing hot with anger and embarrassment. She thought they had finally come to an understanding in the bar after their return from 1754, but obviously she had been wrong if he still believed that she deserved to be punished by him like that.

"I know now that you had your reasons for not confiding in me about Flynn, but it hurt nevertheless," Wyatt explained, unfazed by her reaction. "And I'm also aware that I might have treated you worse than Rufus, but his, well, _betrayal_ , didn't feel as personal as yours, so yah, I was pretty angry at you back then!" he finished, now bashfully dropping his gaze to the floor.

Lucy frowned at him and finally drew her arms away from Rufus so that she could rest her elbows on her thighs when she leaned forward to better pay attention to Wyatt, "What do you mean by that?" she asked curiously, having the feeling that there was more to his confession.

Wyatt sighed and squirmed a little before he awkwardly answered her question. "It means that I didn't have a crush on Rufus, so his dishonesty and secretiveness didn't feel as awful to me as yours, and I might have made up for that by being especially nasty to you," he shrugged, smiling apologetically.

"You had a crush on me?" Lucy asked happily.

"I sure did!" Wyatt confirmed, now looking her directly into her eyes, "But I never would have admitted it back then. Not even to myself."

And with that, Lucy was back on his lap, kissing him between sniggers.

x

Jiya had watched the whole exchange in silence. She didn't mind at all that Lucy had hugged her sort of boyfriend, it was obvious that it was just an act to rile Wyatt up, at least a tiny little bit. And seemingly it had worked too. No, what bothered her was their closeness. It was clear that their friendship had a deep foundation that apparently was built on trust and respect which they had gained during their missions. She envied them for this connection and wondered if this other version of her had been this close with them as well. And if so, how was she supposed to measure up to this? She didn't know any of the missions they just had mentioned and it gave her the feeling of being left out.

Maybe they didn't even want her to be part of the group any longer, but now that she was involved, they couldn't let her go again either.

But despite her doubts and qualms, she couldn't help but smile at the sight of Lucy and Wyatt. They were so clearly in love with each other that she actually couldn't imagine them not being together.

For a moment she actually forgot her strange situation while she watched them, until she was distracted by a small hand on her knee. Slightly startled, she looked down and found their daughter standing in front of her. Smiling, Jiya offered to pick her up and the little girl happily accepted, hugging her in delight that finally one of the grown-ups was willing to pay her a little attention.

"Oh not again!" Rufus groaned exasperated, having to watch his friends' display as well. "Guys seriously, we have far more important things to discuss now!"

"Right," Wyatt acknowledged this argument and quickly gave Lucy one last kiss, before he reluctantly turned his attention to Rufus. "So spill it, what have you found out?"

x

"I think it is pretty obvious what must have happened, isn't it?" Wyatt said, and then continued when three pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly, "Oh come on, we know for a fact that our lifeboat replaced the prototype that you guys," he pointed at Jiya, "have already built in this timeline, so my guess is that the mothership simply must have disappeared because there was nothing here that it could have substituted."

"Yeah right," Rufus scoffed, "why didn't I think of that? And Flynn and Emma dropped here out of thin air, is that what you are suggesting?"

"Well, do you have a better idea?"

"Not yet, no!" Rufus admitted. "But I don't think it is as simple as that."

"Fine! Maybe not, but at least it is an explanation," Wyatt defended his theory.

"Do we know for sure that Emma is the same Emma that worked with Flynn?" Lucy asked all of a sudden. She didn't know why the thought has struck her, but for some reason she just had to know the answer.

"I'm sure," Rufus said shivering, "The way she looked at me was downright scary. Anthony on the other hand was very convincing when he claimed to not knowing me," he added after a moment of reflection. "So he either is a very good actor, or he indeed isn't the same Anthony I used to know."

"And you say that Mason could be working with Rittenhouse already as well?" Wyatt asked for confirmation, and when Rufus nodded, he groaned, "Damn it, so we can't trust him either."

"At least we can get help now," Lucy added pensive, absentmindedly twiddling the USB flash drive in her hand.

"So you really think that Agent Christopher is going to believe us just because of the contents on this drive?" Rufus asked uncertain.

"I don't know," Lucy said shrugging. "At least that's why she gave it to me. I guess we have to trust now that she knew what she was doing when she pieced it together."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Wyatt mumbled darkly, not convinced at all that this was going to be enough evidence for her.

"What do you think Jiya?" Wyatt unexpected turned to her. "Do you think a few pictures from another timeline are proof enough that we are telling the truth?"

"I uhm, I honestly have no idea," she said, taken aback that he would include her in this. "I don't know her, remember?"

"True, but you are the only one here that had to go through something similar, suddenly being confronted with the fact that time travel exists and that we are indeed from another time line," Wyatt insisted.

Jiya felt even more uncomfortable now that suddenly the undivided attention was solely on her, with everyone eagerly waiting for her answer. Normally she wasn't shy at all, but somehow these three people, that were supposed to be her friends, intimidated her in a way no one ever had before, and that was quite unsettling.

"If you ask me," she finally spoke up slowly, "then no. I'm actually one of the very few people who knows about Mason's attempt to build a time machine, and I still have trouble believing it," she admitted, not daring to look into their eyes. "In my heart I know that you are telling the truth," she added quickly, "but sometimes I can't shake the feeling that you are pulling my leg. And this woman, Agent Christopher is it? Does she even have any scientific background? Or at least an interest in science fiction? Because I think that is essential for being even remotely open to this bomb you are about to drop on her."

The three of them exchanged puzzled looks, indicating that they actually had no idea.

"And what if her life hasn't changed at all from the one you want to show her as evidence that you are from another time line?" Jiya then remarked. "Just because some things changed for you, never mind how big they are, doesn't mean that the same has happened to her. And then what? If you show her pictures from her current life, don't you think she might rather see you as a threat to her family? After all, as you mentioned is she not only a trained cop but also a highly ranking agent at Homeland Security. I bet she has to deal with creeps that try to threaten her on a quite often."

Lucy looked totally aghast after she had finished, whereas Rufus was visibly shaken by her contribution. And even Wyatt didn't look unaffected by the unfortunate scenario she just had described, making Jiya instantly feel guilty about that. "I'm sorry," she said hastily, "I didn't mean to catastrophize the situation, I just…"

"No!" Wyatt said at once, "You are damn right about this. This is a possibility that we have to take into account. Thanks for bringing this to our attention."

xxx

"You sure you want to do this?" Wyatt whispered into her ear when they approached the house.

"No, but we have to do it," Lucy said determined. "We need help if we want to figure out where Flynn is and what he is up to these days. And with Agent Christopher's help, we could prevent him from stealing the lifeboat a second time, if that is what he is after."

"Yeah, I get all that," Wyatt answered. "But what if Jiya is right and she doesn't believe us, even with the pictures and all that stuff, or worse because of them? I really don't want to end up in the loony bin."

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Lucy said, raising her hand to knock on the door.

"Yes we have!" Wyatt insisted, grabbing her hand to stop her from knocking. "It's not just us we have to think about now," he pointed out, "If we lose her because of this," he said, nodding at Florence who was sleepily resting her head on his shoulder, "we are never going to forgive ourselves."

"Don't you think I know that?" Lucy retorted heatedly. "But this way we would at least have some control again. I know you are convinced that the mothership has disappeared, but I'm not. And neither is Rufus, by the way, so who says that Flynn won't jump again soon, and we lose her because of that?"

"At least we wouldn't know the difference then," Wyatt mumbled faintly, giving her a miserable look.

"Yah, but I don't want that either," Lucy said resolutely before she turned around and determinedly knocked at the door. She heard Wyatt take in a sharp breath while she herself stopped breathing altogether. What if Wyatt was right? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?

The seconds it took for the door to open felt like an eternity to Lucy. Much too much time to doubt and rethink her decision over and over again, but not enough time to make a run for it.

Then they heard steps approach and shortly after the door opened, revealing an all too familiar person on the other side

"Wyatt!?" Agent Christopher greeted them surprised. "What are you doing here? I didn't expect to hear from you for another couple of days."


End file.
